RUSSIA BANS BABY SEAL HUNT IN NORTHERN AREA

February 26, 2009

[AR-News] RUSSIA BANS BABY SEAL HUNT IN NORTHERN AREAþ

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http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-02-26/Baby_seal_hunting_banned_in_Northern_Russia.html

The government has banned the hunting of baby seals in the regions surrounding the White Sea.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called seal hunting a "bloody industry".

"It is clear that it should have been banned a long time ago," said Putin at a meeting with the Minister of Natural Resources.

Putin acknowledged the importance of the hunting industry in the region and said that he would require the government to compensate incomes of the White Sea people in connection with the ban on hunting.

"This is one of their means of existence. Therefore, simply banning is inadequate. A system of support measures must be worked out to secure employment and income of those who live and work there," said Putin

Many of the residents around the White Sea depend on sales from the seals, especially their fat, for survival.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is also preparing proposals to ban the hunting of seals up to the age of one.

Recently, the Russian representative of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) along with other ecological organisations repeated their call for a moratorium on the hunting of baby seals.

The IFAW's Russian representative even challenged the myth that seal hunting provides the indigenous people with a stable living, saying they can earn no more than $US 200 a month from their exploitation.

"Developing ecological tourism would provide a more stable source of welfare," said the representative.

Professor Aleksey Yablokov, an associate professor at the Russian Academy of Science, believes that the seals could soon number no more than 150 thousand.

"This is a real biological catastrophe. At the current rate, in a few years the seal could become a rarity in the White Sea," said Yablokov.

Currently around 800 thousand inhabit the White Sea.

Yablokov agreed with current scientific investigations that if the quota is lowered by up to five per cent, a balance will be kept.

http://www.russiatoday.com/Art_and_Fun/2007-07-03/Russian_businessman_saves_seals_.html

Russian businessman saves seals

03 July, 2007, 13:34

In Russia's far east, a local businessman has turned an island into a preserve for marine life. Volunteers are working to protect animals from poachers in the area, and lead excursions for residents.

The island of Toki in Russia's far east Khabarovsk region has become a summer resort for local marine mammals.

For decades, sea life living there faced a dreary fate - poachers arranged hunting safaris and anyone who wanted to join them could. But businessman Vladimir Moskalyov decided that both the animals and the environment had to be protected.

"I was born and grew up here. I want this place to be preserved to be the way it was 20 or 30 years ago," Vladimir Moskalyov explained.

Thousands of walruses, seals and sea lions have come to the preserve on the most southern island in the Strait of Tartary. Volunteers are on duty daily, working to protect the waters in which the creatures have come to prosper.

But poachers continue to hunt along the coast. The animals of nearby, badly-guarded islands suffer the most. Local inspectors don't have enough boats and fuel to do their protection work.

As a result, "locals frequently shoot animals, and steal the little ones. Their fat is worth a lot. In addition, the meat of the animals is fed to dogs. Other than that, there is nothing that can be taken from them," says Vladimir's son, Ivan Moskalyov.

Still, Toki Island has grown into a popular resort for marine mammals.

And the coming cold presents a new danger - killer whales. Every autumn dozens of animals perish when the whales come for feeding. But the volunteers at the preserve strictly do not interfere with nature. And every year, come the warm weather, it seems as though more and more seals and sea lions are finding their way back to safety.

~END~The concept of 'animal rights' values the simple premise that ALL living creatures have a "right" to be allowed to live their lives without victimization--free from brutality. It is a right that EVERY being strives for.

~Brennan Browne~