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This article is from thestar.com.my

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2002/9/3/features/hrmammal & sec=f\

eatures

 

________________________

 

Tuesday, September 03, 2002

Declining numbers

By HILARY CHIEW

 

WHEN Jamirin (not his real name) caught a dolphin in his fishing net in Marudu

Bay off the east coast of Sabah in July last year, he decided to keep the animal

as a pet because it was so adorable. So he went around enquiring about the

proper procedure for applying for a permit to keep the dolphin.

 

Word got to the Fisheries Department and a marine mammal scientist was sent to

investigate the matter. However, when Saifullah A. Jaaman, deputy director of

Borneo Marine Research Institute of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, arrived at the

scene, the dophin had already died.

 

The bottlenose dolphin had been tied to a pole by its fluke for two weeks, and

had refused food offered by its captor. It was in shallow water and there were

bruises around its fluke.

 

“I think it died of stress. The poor creature must have struggled to free

itself. It is a wild animal, so even if it is allowed to swim but kept in

captivity, it would struggle until it is exhausted,” says Saifullah.

 

 

 

“In all honesty, he didn & #8217;t know he was breaking the law. It was sheer

ignorance.”

 

No legal action was taken against Jamirin. Under the state & #8217;s Wildlife

Conservation Enactment 1997, those found keeping protected animals or killing

them can be liable to a maximum fine of RM20,000 and two years & #8217;

imprisonment.

 

Three fishermen in Semporna, Sabah, paid the price for violating the law. The

trio of Sea Bajau fishermen were each sentenced to 12 months & #8217; jail for

killing 12 dolphins three years ago. The case was later dubbed “the wedding

hunt”.

 

“The spinner dolphins were caught near Ligitan Island,” says Saifullah. “The

Pelauh (local name for the nomadic Sea Bajau) had gone out to sea in the hope of

catching two of the mammals for use as wedding gifts, according to their

matrimonial custom.

 

“The hunters harpooned an adult which eventually led them to a pod (group) of

dolphins which tried to save their injured friend. Overcome by greed, the

fishermen bombed the area to net the rest of the pod. That explained the

external injuries on the animals, including three juveniles which were not

harpooned.”

 

Their overloaded banca, a traditional watercraft used by the sea gypsies,

aroused the suspicion of the patrolling Police Field Force who thought they were

smugglers.

 

 

 

The shocking discovery was referred to the wildlife authorities which

subsequently prosecuted the fishermen, resulting in the first conviction of its

kind in the country.

 

“During the Sessions Court trial in Tawau, the fishermen claimed they did not

know that dolphins were a protected species. They said they caught these animals

to be served as a delicacy for a wedding party and as a dowry for the bride.

 

“Killing a shark, dugong, dolphin or whale, at least once in a man & #8217;s

life, is a traditional Pelauh ritual that signifies a person & #8217;s manhood.

 

“I believe the hunt is still on but no arrest has been made since this landmark

case. As the practice is rooted in the culture of the Pelauh, it is difficult to

stop them,” explains Saifullah who has been researching marine mammals in Sabah

and Sarawak for the past six years.

 

Surveys on coastal communities in Sabah and Sarawak reveal that marine mammals

such as dolphins and dugongs are becoming increasingly scarce in Sabah waters.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, sightings of these mammals were a daily affair for

fisherfolk.

 

The two reported incidents of human impact on marine mammals in Sabah waters

highlight the urgency to engage local communities in conservation programmes in

spite of the plethora of regulations to protect these animals.

 

Protection of all cetaceans and dugongs in Malaysian waters and within the 200

nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone is provided for under the Fisheries Act

1985 and the Fisheries Regulations 1999 (Control of Endangered Species of Fish).

 

Sabah and Sarawak have their own state laws which reflect the federal

legislation and include specific regulations for management of wildlife within

state jurisdiction like the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 and the

Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.

 

These laws prohibit any person from catching, killing, possessing, consuming,

or importing and exporting any marine mammal found in Malaysia.

 

According to Saifullah, a survey between May 1997 and October 2000 reveal that

only half of the 234 groups of fishermen interviewed in the coastal regions of

Sabah and Sarawak were aware of the regulations.

 

Sensitising stakeholders

 

As has been demonstrated time and again with other conservation issues, the

future lies in sensitising stakeholders and educating the public through

awareness programmes.

 

Unlike the Land Bajau who hunt for deer, the Sea Bajaus rely on marine mammals

for their source of red meat.

 

The stateless status of the nomadic Pelauh poses another problem to

community-based conservation efforts in resolving the conflict caused by

indigenous hunting practices and the need to conserve the animal.

 

“Their inclusion into any conservation programme can be misconstrued as

endorsing and legalising their presence in Malaysia. But if they are excluded

and later run foul of the law, the action may be misunderstood as victimisation.

 

“Their nomadic nature also makes it difficult to keep track of their

whereabouts or do follow-ups,” says Saifullah.

 

The current nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants and the heightened

security surveillance in Sabah waters may serve as a temporary check on the

problem of illegal hunting of marine mammals.

 

Since 1990s, says Saifullah, the practice of indigenous hunting has been

reduced to a “catch on sight” activity where fishermen carry their harpoons with

them at all times so as not to miss out on any encounter.

 

“If the captured animal is too big to be loaded onto the boat, the fishermen

will drown the animal by turning it upside down since marine mammals breathe

through their nostrils. The dead animal is then towed to shore,” explains

Saifullah. “In some instances, the animal is butchered at sea.”

 

Saifullah reckons that indigenous utilisation must be sustainable although the

traditional rights of the people to natural resources are recognised.

 

But what happens when the supposedly traditional practice finds its way into

the open market, fuelled by the appetite for exotic meat?

 

A kilogram of dugong meat can fetch between RM5 and RM10 in Kudat, Sandakan and

Semporna in Sabah, while a whole dugong can fetch as much as RM400, depending on

its weight. In Sarawak, some fishermen in Kuching have been selling dolphin meat

for between RM2 and RM6 per kilogram to local villagers.

 

”To date there have been three recorded seizures & #8211; the 12 dolphins from

the & #8216;wedding hunt & #8217; in Semporna, an accidentally caught dugong at

Kudat market and finless porpoise meat that was being sold at a fish market near

Kuching,” Saifullah points out.

 

Apart from its meat, dugong parts are being sought after for their purported

medicinal and mystical uses. Dugong teardrops are used by traditional medicine

men for concocting love potions, while the tusks and sternum bones are believed

to cure asthma, poor eyesight and high fever. They are also fashioned into

amulets to guard orchards from wild boars.

 

Deadly entanglement

 

Incidental catches of dugongs, finless porpoises and dolphins, particularly the

Irrawaddy dolphins, are known to occur regularly in gillnets and kelong (fish

trap), and to a lesser extent in trawl nets.

 

In Sabah and Sarawak, a preliminary survey shows that at least one mammal is

being caught every year in every village surveyed & #8211; a figure that may be

unsustainable for some resident populations.

 

“Out of 150 groups of fishermen interviewed in Sabah, 35 reported that they

have accidentally caught dugongs in their fishing nets, at least once in the

last five years,” reveals Saifullah.

 

In Sarawak, all six groups of fishermen interviewed in Limbang and Lawas also

admitted having accidentally caught the mammal once in the Bay of Brunei.

 

The nasty practice of fish-bombing which had destroyed colonies of coral reefs

in Sabah waters had also taken its toll on marine mammals, affecting their

orientation, and in some cases, injuring or killing them.

 

The increasing popularity of boating as a sport poses a new threat to marine

mammals which risk being hit by these mean machines.

 

“Some of the dugongs which were washed ashore on the beaches of Kota Kinabalu

in Sabah, and Pasir Gudang in Johor, bore signs that they were hit by boat

propellers. In addition to these risks, increased navigation is likely to have

an effect on dugong behaviour, forcing them to leave busy areas or modify their

feeding habits,” adds Saifullah.

 

Degrading habitat

 

Saifullah acknowledges that little assessment has been done on cetacean

habitats and related problems in Malaysian waters. Nevertheless, he adds, some

problems are to be expected.

 

“Large tracts of coastlines are either under development or gazetted for future

development. Coastal development and land reclamation have resulted in the

destruction of important habitats such as seagrass beds, coral reefs and

mangroves that many marine creatures depend on.

 

“Untreated industrial, agricultural, mining and urban wastes carried by

run-offs contaminate the marine environment. These pollutants can accumulate in

marine mammals through the food chain, and this problem has not been examined in

Malaysia,” notes Saifullah.

 

Land use patterns in Sabah and Sarawak also pose an indirect threat to marine

mammals.

 

Logging and the subsequent conversion of forests into large-scale oil palm

plantations along rivers have resulted in an increase in the discharge of

effluents into the sea, changing the dynamics of the marine ecosystem.

 

Declining fish stocks caused by the cumulative effects of pollution and

over-fishing has led to increasing competition for fish between fishermen and

smaller cetaceans in the coastal waters of Malaysia.

 

On bigger cetaceans like the various species of whales which have been sighted

in Malaysian waters, Saifullah says more field work would be carried out in

future for further identification and to determine their behaviour, distribution

and migratory patterns. & #8211; Pictures by Saifullah A. Jaaman<p>

 

________________________

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