Death row

Macabre pictures of dead and dying seals along Namibia’s coastline bear testimony to the mass starvation of thousands of Cape fur seals.

Added to this year’s culling quota of 85 000 pups and 7 000 bulls, population figures are reaching a critically low level, according to Francois Hugo of Seal Alert SA. Hugo claims that population figures announced earlier this month by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources were deliberately inflated to justify the harvesting quota.Overfishing and mismanagement of marine resources are the causes of the mass mortality, says Hugo.These claims were vehemently denied by the Ministry earlier this year.Bonnie Amutse, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, insisted that seal “harvesting” is conducted in line with the principles of what is officially called sustainable management.According to Amutse, control over the seal population is necessary in order to protect the large number of small fish that promises better days ahead for Namibia’s struggling fishing industry.Amutse maintained that the seal population is not threatened by extinction.According to him, the pup count for this year is estimated at 185 000 and the number of grown seals exceeds 700 000.The current culling season ends on November 15.Hugo claims that population figures announced earlier this month by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources were deliberately inflated to justify the harvesting quota.Overfishing and mismanagement of marine resources are the causes of the mass mortality, says Hugo.These claims were vehemently denied by the Ministry earlier this year.Bonnie Amutse, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, insisted that seal “harvesting” is conducted in line with the principles of what is officially called sustainable management.According to Amutse, control over the seal population is necessary in order to protect the large number of small fish that promises better days ahead for Namibia’s struggling fishing industry.Amutse maintained that the seal population is not threatened by extinction.According to him, the pup count for this year is estimated at 185 000 and the number of grown seals exceeds 700 000.The current culling season ends on November 15.