International Marine Mammal Project
IMMP and Seaflow, Protect Our Living Oceans, have denounced a new
effort in Congress by the Navy and the Bush administration to seriously
weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) supposedly for “national
defense.” The MMPA protects whales and other marine mammals from harm,
but the Bush administration is hiding extensive Navy exemptions from
the law in the unrelated National Defense Authorization Act.
“The proposed Bush administration 2004 Defense Authorization Bill is
the most egregious assault in history on the integrity of the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the world’s whales, dolphins and seals
it protects,” says Mark J. Palmer, assistant director of IMMP.
Michael Stocker, bioacoustician and member of Seaflow’s board of
directors, comments: “While the legislation has direct effects on
marine mammals, the resulting Navy actions will also result in severe
harm to fisheries, other marine life, and marine ecosystems. If
Congress goes along with this proposal, Navy activities, including use
of underwater explosives, loud active sonars, and other actions that
harm marine life will no longer be restricted to protect the
environment.”
The Navy proposes to gut the MMPA in four principal ways:
The proposed bill would weaken the definition of “harassment” of marine mammals in the MMPA;
The bill proposes a process for exempting actions of the Navy for
“military training.” This “alternative track” for approving Navy
training with Low Frequency Active (LFA) Sonar and other active sonars,
as well as bombing practice and use of underwater explosives, will
exempt the Navy against active enforcement of current MMPA restrictions
for protection of marine mammals all over the Earth;
The proposed bill further allows the Secretary of Defense to grant the
Navy exemptions for any activity with a “defense purpose” from
provisions of the MMPA, and;
The proposed amendments would further eliminate current MMPA permit
restrictions that limit take (any harassment, killing, injuring, etc.)
of marine mammals to small numbers and limited geographic areas, issues
that are the subject of current environmental lawsuits against the
Navy’s active sonar program, including the controversial LFA Sonar.
The legislation is on a fast track in Congress. The National Defense
Authorization Bill is intended to set budget levels for the Department
of Defense in the coming fiscal year. But the Bush administration is
trying to hijack this must-pass measure by placing anti-environmental
riders, including attacks on the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species
Act, as well as the MMPA.
A similar effort in 2002 was defeated in Congress, but the Pentagon is
banking on public fears about war and terrorism, along with a
Republican majority in Congress, to gut environmental laws. The result,
environmentalists contend, will be a global war on whales and other
sensitive species that require protection.
“We strongly believe that our national security is dependent on healthy
oceans to support us,” notes Palmer. “The military and the Bush
administration are throwing away the future health of our oceans in
search of minor convenience today.”
“If the Department of Defense is successful in gaining exemptions to
environmental laws,” says Stocker, “we can be sure that industry groups
and polluters will be asking Congress to exempt them as well. This is a
zero-sum game that threatens 30 years of environmental progress in
America.”
“Congress must stand up to the Bush administration’s war on whales,”
concludes Palmer. “We cannot allow the Pentagon to use fear to stampede
a wholesale repeal of the environmental laws that protect whales,
dolphins, and seals.”
Take action: Tell your Representative and Senators that
national defense means protecting the nation’s environment, not
destroying it, and that the military should not win additional
exemption from environmental laws. Representative [name], House Office
Building, Washington, DC 20515; Senator [name], Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510, or call the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121
and ask to be connected to your representative’s and/or senator’s
office.
Earth Island sues (again) to save dolphins
In December, Earth Island and eight other environmental and animal
welfare groups filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Commerce in San
Francisco Federal Court, seeking to overturn the stealth decision by
the Bush administration to weaken federal “Dolphin Safe” tuna label
standards. EII is seeking a court order to permanently block the
weakened tuna label and prevent thousands of cans of Mexican tuna,
falsely labeled as “Dolphin Safe,” from flooding into the US.
The lawsuit was filed pro bono by attorneys Joshua Floum
and Ariela St. Pierre of Holme Roberts & Owen in San Francisco. The
government has agreed to a temporary stay of the implementation,
safeguarding the strong “Dolphin Safe” label standards pending a
hearing in early April for a preliminary injunction. Even so, trucks
bearing dolphin-deadly tuna from Mexico reportedly rushed across the US
border into Texas in January before the stay was implemented.
“We have been down this same road before in 1999 when the
Administration tried to weaken the ‘Dolphin Safe’ label; that decision
was struck down by the courts twice,” says St. Pierre. “We intend to
use the same evidence and the same realities as before. There can be no
doubt that deliberately chasing and netting dolphins, can cause harm,
especially to baby dolphins. We expect the same result in this lawsuit—a victory for dolphins and for the environment, and a strong rebuke
to officials who would promote trade in derogation of their statutory
duties to protect our environment.”
Plaintiffs in the new dolphin case include EII, biologist Samuel
LaBudde, The Humane Society of the United States, American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Defenders of Wildlife,
International Wildlife Coalition, Animal Welfare Institute, Society for
Animal Protective Legislation, Animal Fund, and the Oceanic Society.
The lawsuit is aimed at the US Commerce Department and the National
Marine Fisheries Service. The Mexican tuna industry has petitioned the
court to join the case.
“The administration’s own scientists have shown that the fishing
practice is a disaster for dolphins,” says David Phillips, director of
EII’s International Marine Mammal Project. “This is no more than a
political gift to Mexico at the expense of dolphin lives. With this new
decision by the Bush administration, tuna fishing nations will
deliberately target thousands of baby dolphins each year, leading to
death from starvation and predators. We cannot allow that to occur.”
EII contends that the Commerce Secretary’s decision, which now allows a
new weaker definition of “Dolphin Safe,” is arbitrary and capricious.
The successful federal “Dolphin Safe” tuna program is being jeopardized
by the government’s weakening of US dolphin protection laws to
accommodate tuna millionaires in Mexico and other countries in the name
of “free trade.”
Before the Secretary’s action, the “Dolphin Safe” label could not be
used for any tuna caught by chasing and netting of dolphins. Tuna
fishermen in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) deliberately target
dolphins because tuna and dolphins form mixed schools, and dolphins are
more visible from boats than are tuna. Since 1990 and the advent of the
“Dolphin Safe” tuna program, dolphin deaths have decreased by 98
percent in the ETP.
US tuna fishermen no longer set nets on dolphins, and the major US tuna
processors—StarKist, Bumble Bee, and Chicken of the Sea—have
pledged they will not buy tuna caught by chasing and netting dolphins,
regardless of the changed standards. The primary beneficiary of the
Secretary’s decision is Mexico, though Venezuela, Colombia, and several
other Latin American nations continue to chase and net dolphins to
catch tuna. Of these countries, only Mexico has so far been certified
by the Department of Commerce to import tuna.
“The American public deserves to know the truth about how tuna is
caught,” Phillips says. “The Secretary’s decision is a fraud benefiting
a small handful of Mexican tuna millionaires and drug lords, who can
now import tuna to the US using a phony ‘Dolphin Safe’ label. All of
the major US and European tuna processors have pledged not to buy or
sell such tuna.”
Four-strokes for whale folks
IMMP has joined four other organizations to launch an important program
to help the fishermen and whalewatching guides of Baja California,
while helping to clean up the main source of pollution in the Baja gray
whale lagoons.
With our colleagues at EcoLogic Enterprise Ventures, Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW),
and Wildcoast, Earth Island is sponsoring $144,000 in loans to local
businesses to buy new four-stroke outboard motors.
The older two-stroke outboard models dump as much as a third of their
fuel and oil directly back into the ocean during operation. They are
loud, and they wear out. Four-stroke motors are cleaner, longer
lasting, and cheaper to run. The loans will allow fishermen and
whalewatching guides who have protected the wildlife and ocean
resources of San Ignacio Lagoon and Punta Abrejos to realize immediate
savings in fuel and oil costs, and will help further protect their
local environment. As the loans are repaid by the fishermen, EII and
our colleagues will provide new loans to additional fishermen in Baja
to purchase the cleaner, quieter outboard motors.
It’s a good deal for the gray whales, who bear their young in San
Ignacio Lagoon, and it is a good deal for dolphins, marine birds,
lobsters, sea turtles, and a wide variety of fish species.
“A chronic lack of access to capital in Latin America has stunted the
growth of business rooted in places like Laguna San Ignacio, where poor
communities have a stake in protecting local habitats,” says William
Foote, president and founder of EcoLogic. “Our objective is to use
credit as a tool to harness the entrepreneurial energy that is already
there in the field. We are delighted to be working with NRDC, IFAW, and
EII to demonstrate the viability of these small-scale fishermen and
whale-watching guides to local financial institutions.”
Last May, IMMP purchased a 200-hp four-stroke outboard for the staff
patrol boat used for El Vizcaino Reserve, the largest wildlife refuge
in Latin America. El Vizcaino Reserve encompasses San Ignacio Lagoon
and Punta Abrejos.
EII thanks the people of Mexico for their support for long-term protection of whales, the Baja desert, and ocean wilderness.
Latin American dolphin news
Nicaraguan Minister of Environment Jorge Salazar Cardenal confirmed in
February that his government has indefinitely banned the use and
exploitation of bottlenose dolphins.
Salazar says that this new law guarantees that in Nicaragua, dolphins
will be fully protected. The ban comes after the World Society for the
Protection of Animals’ successful rescue and rehabilitation of
Bluefield and Nica, two bottlenose dolphins captured last August at
Corn Island, Nicaragua, and released a month later.
As a result of a campaign promoted by WSPA Latin America and member
society Amigos de los Animales in Panama, similar legislation is being
considered at the Panamanian Congress as part of a new law on animal
welfare that also includes a circus ban.
Meanwhile, in the Dominican Republic, a committee for the protection of
dolphins has been created at Bayahibe, where representatives of the
Manati Park marine show captured eight dolphins in 2002, sparking a
global campaign of protest. A tourist boycott is still in place against
hotels and tourism operators that cooperate with Manati Park.
Orca update
The campaign to save the Pacific Northwest’s southern resident orcas
from extinction continues. Three years ago, IMMP initiated the Orca
Recovery Campaign (ORCa) to halt the whales’ slide to extinction and
enhance their prospects for recovery. Their numbers had declined 20
percent in five years. The causes of the decline are believed to be
toxic contamination, lack of consistent food availability (salmon), and
vessel traffic. Though there have been new births, the outlook is grim;
these whales are described by scientists as among the most highly
contaminated marine mammals in the world.
Since its inception, the campaign has educated and motivated thousands
of people through brochures, conservation decals, a popular Web site ( www.saveorcawhales.org),
numerous conferences, and stunning graphics on more than 200 billboards
in Washington state. ORCa initiated a cooperative three-day Orca
Recovery Conference, donated funds to non-invasive field research,
contributed to the successful rescue of Springer the orphan orca, and
fostered cooperation between environmental organizations.
ORCa continues to move the agenda forward to save southern resident
orcas, recently recruiting the support of 19 environmental
organizations to petition the State of Washington’s Department of Fish
and Wildlife (WDFW) to act to list the Southern Residents as endangered
under state law. Not only did the state commit to the listing process
(which should be completed by December 2003) but Governor Locke
provided financing from his discretionary fund to make the listing
possible. In addition, the $100,000 will be used by WDFW to participate
in additional recovery efforts. Go to www.saveorcawhales.org to thank him!
In the bad news, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) failed to
list southern resident orcas under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as
requested in a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity. NMFS
responded with an inadequate designation of “Depleted” under the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The decline of the southern residents is
caused by toxic waste and other factors not addressable under the MMPA;
protection under ESA is needed to address habitat-related issues such
as waterborne toxics. Earth Island has joined a lawsuit filed by the
Center that would force NMFS to list the southern residents.
The work ahead includes pushing state and federal agencies to act,
reminding people about the suffering of the orcas and mobilizing the
public. We are now organizing a meeting of environmental groups to
write a conservation plan and our own recovery plan while the lawsuit
lives on in the courts.
—Will Anderson
Take action: Check out the Orca Recovery Campaign’s Web site: www.saveorcawhales.org..
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