Seal culling season sparks new protests

By: ELMA ROBBERTS

ABOUT 60 000 Cape fur seal pups will be stabbed or clubbed to death this year during Namibia's annual sealing season.

From July to mid-November, 7 000 bulls will also be culled [killed]

in what is claimed to be the second largest seal harvest in the

world.

An international campaign, led by conservation group Seal Alert

SA, is currently underway in an attempt to ban seal harvesting in

Namibia, as was done in South Africa in 1990.

 

"If Namibia and South Africa's Cape fur seals are the same

species, why is the population not being managed as such under one

policy?" asked Francois Hugo of Seal Alert SA.

 

In the United States, the stabbing and clubbing of nursing pups

was prohibited in 1972 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and

all imports of Cape fur seal products were banned.

 

In Namibia, seal pups that are still nursing are the chief

target for culling.

 

According to Hugo, female seals are not culled, as they have no

commercial value.

 

The unnatural increase in the female breeding population was

thus caused by human interference, said Hugo in a letter

distributed to all relevant institutions in Namibia as well as

concerned conservationists across the globe.

 

The sealing quota in Namibia is shared between only two

concession holders on two mainland colonies, Cape Cross and Atlas

Bay, where 75 per cent of the seal population is born.

 

According to an investigation by Seal Alert SA, the entire

season brings part-time employment to less than 160 unskilled

migrant workers and in 2000, when 42 000 seals were culled, the

commercial value was less than U$3 per seal.

 

Starvation caused by overfishing led to two mass die-offs since

1990, during which one-third to half of the seal population starved

to death, said Hugo.

 

Shortly after the 2000 harvest, which saw Namibia double its

sealing quota to 60 000 seal pups, the mass starvation of 300 000

seals was announced, added Hugo.

 

Despite that, the sealing season was extended since sealers were

only able to harvest less than half the quota.

 

Since then, hardly any information regarding the seal

population, quotas and die-offs had been made public, he said.

 

According to Hugo, the Namibian Government offered the

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) an opportunity to buy

out the two sealers in Namibia to finally end the culling.

 

The offer was rejected.

 

An international campaign, led by conservation group Seal Alert SA,

is currently underway in an attempt to ban seal harvesting in

Namibia, as was done in South Africa in 1990."If Namibia and South

Africa's Cape fur seals are the same species, why is the population

not being managed as such under one policy?" asked Francois Hugo of

Seal Alert SA.In the United States, the stabbing and clubbing of

nursing pups was prohibited in 1972 under the Marine Mammal

Protection Act and all imports of Cape fur seal products were

banned.In Namibia, seal pups that are still nursing are the chief

target for culling.According to Hugo, female seals are not culled,

as they have no commercial value.The unnatural increase in the

female breeding population was thus caused by human interference,

said Hugo in a letter distributed to all relevant institutions in

Namibia as well as concerned conservationists across the globe.The

sealing quota in Namibia is shared between only two concession

holders on two mainland colonies, Cape Cross and Atlas Bay, where

75 per cent of the seal population is born.According to an

investigation by Seal Alert SA, the entire season brings part-time

employment to less than 160 unskilled migrant workers and in 2000,

when 42 000 seals were culled, the commercial value was less than

U$3 per seal.Starvation caused by overfishing led to two mass

die-offs since 1990, during which one-third to half of the seal

population starved to death, said Hugo.Shortly after the 2000

harvest, which saw Namibia double its sealing quota to 60 000 seal

pups, the mass starvation of 300 000 seals was announced, added

Hugo.Despite that, the sealing season was extended since sealers

were only able to harvest less than half the quota.Since then,

hardly any information regarding the seal population, quotas and

die-offs had been made public, he said.According to Hugo, the

Namibian Government offered the International Fund for Animal

Welfare (IFAW) an opportunity to buy out the two sealers in Namibia

to finally end the culling.The offer was rejected.

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