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WHALE & DOLPHIN
HUNTS IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN
By Donald Sutherland
In February, within sight of the beaches of the popular tourist eastern
Caribbean island of St.Lucia, a struggling killer whale is hauled onto
an unmarked fishing trawler. That same month, tourists on a St. Lucia
whale watching trip are confronted by fishermen trying to harpoon a
sperm whale. The incidents were reported by the Lucia Whale and Dolphin
Association (SLWDA), a not for profit organization trying to promote
whale watching on an island heavily traveled by US tourists. http://www.geocities.com/slwdwa/
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) cited St.Lucia (an IWC member)
with the largest IWC-reported Cetacean hunts in the Caribbean, an estimated
65 whales and 96 dolphins killed in 1999. Fishermen of St.Lucia and
the neighboring islands of St.Vincent and the Grenadines specialize
in killing the same whales and dolphins the tourists pay to watch in
the wild. The hunting of small whales, porpoises and dolphins by IWC
Caribbean member Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint
Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is not covered
by IWC regulations, but there is IWC data on the kills in St.Lucia.
http://www.stlucia.org/
St.Vincent and the Grenadines:
http://www.svgtourism.com/
http://www.tropicalislandvacation.com/grenadines.html
http://www.wheretostay.com/caribbean/islands/stvincent/index.html
These hunts of the same species of whales and dolphins protected in
US waters and are done right in front of tourists. Last year an endangered
Humpback whale calf and its mother were slaughtered by fishermen from
St. Vincent and the Grenadines islands in full view of tourists and
reported by international media.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_297000/297082.stm
Commercial whaling of some designated species is technically under a
moratorium globally for members of the IWC (with the exception of a
two Humpback whale IWC quota for St.Vincent and the Grenadines). The
humpback whale is the foundation of the large whale watching industries
of New England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, the Dominican Republic, Hawaii,
Alaska, and Australia and to marine nature, whale watch operators, and
tourism officials in these places, killing one would be like killing
the goose that laid the golden egg. But not in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.
"The St.Vincent hunt has been poorly regulated and the whalers
have persistently (and illegally) killed calves," says Sue Fisher,
a spokeswoman for the Whale and Conservation Society (WDCS) a not for
profit based in London. http://www.wdcs.org/ "Last year, fishermen
killed a Bryde's whale, which is also illegal", she says. The hunting
of small whales and porpoises (dolphins) for aboriginal subsistence
purposes is allowed by IWC regulations for the IWC Caribbean member
countries of Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia,
Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, but there is only
IWC data on these kills from St.Lucia.
http://home.istar.ca/~rsimms/whale.htm "Although the competence
of IWC to cover small cetaceans is a matter for debate among IWC member
countries, we do
collect statistics on small cetacean," says Dr Nicky Grandy Secretary
of the International Whaling Commission (http://www.iwcoffice.org) "However,
for the Caribbean, we only have data provided by St.Lucia, and only
for 1999. They are as follows:
Cetacean Species:
# reported
# estimated
Short-finned pilot whale:
8
35
Pygmy killer whale:
2
18
False killer whale
3
12
Bottlenose dolphin
2
20
Atlantic spotted dolphin
12
60
Fraser's dolphin
1
6
Common dolphin
1
10
Whale and dolphin
hunting on these Caribbean islands have been practiced for generations,
and environmental organizations are hoping promotion of whale and dolphin
watching in their tourist industry will pressure island governments
to protect these cetaceans. In 1998, an estimated 39,000 people went
whale watching in the greater Caribbean and according to WDCS estimated
total revenues were nearly $10 million USD ( 6.2 million UK). "Whale
watching offers a choice and one that we feel fits in with the strong
conversion of many of these islands to a tourism economy, but many of
these islands still have traditional fishermen who are not necessarily
benefiting by the conversion to tourism," says Erich Hoyt, consultant
for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, marine ecologist
and author of 7 books on whales and dolphins. http://www.caribbeansupersite.com/region/watching.htm
Greenpeace also supports promoting whale and dolphin watching industries
rather than protesting for an international boycott of the region. "Our
position is that the long-term economic interests of these islands is
better served by the development of whale and dolphin watching, and
we have been working to help that along," says Audrey Cardwell,
Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace. "We hope to use positive action
from tourists to encourage a change in policies, but, let's face it,
most of the tourists who go to spend their money on the Caribbean would
be very upset to know or see such hunts going on.Their Caribbean fantasy
is swimming with dolphins, not eating them," she says. Environmental
organizations claim IWC Caribbean nations are being financially influenced
by Japan to promote cetacean fishing and support Japan's efforts for
a resumption of commercial whaling at the IWC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_347000/347919.stm
IWC Caribbean governments justify cetacean hunts as a sustainable use
of their marine resources, and have denied Japan's financial assistance
is influencing their pro- whale and dolphin hunting policies. In July
2000 Lloyd Pascal, Dominica's representative to the International Whaling
Commission, justified his country's pro-whaling policies by saying "I
was instructed that I should vote in accordance with our established
policy of sustainable use of all marine resources, including whales
and that's what I did". "As for the allegation of Japanese
aid that's an absurd attempt by detractors to smear Dominica and to
bring down the
government," said Pascal. The government of St.Vincent openly acknowledges
the Japanese are helping them to expand their cetacean fishing. http://www.vincy.com/fisheries
A statement from
the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Fisheries Division of the Ministry
of Agriculture, Industry and Labour states: "A special programme
for two cetacean species, the Blackfish or pilot whale and the Bottle
nose dolphin, has been proposed in order to assess the status of these
resources and their potential for development. Of particular interest
are the health and nutritional benefits to be derived from the blackfish
oil and the possibilities which exist for the development of this product.
Also embodied within this programme is the development of the national
capability for research and management of these species through research
support from appropriate Japanese institutions." St.Vincent doesn't
offer whale watching tours. "Tourists can do whale and dolphin
watching if they request it from the available tour guides, but to the
best of my knowledge, boat tours are not specifically directed at dolphin
and whale watching," says S. Singh-Renton, a spokesman for the
St.Vincent Fisheries Unit. Similar to St.Vincent's policy on whale watching,
the fate of whales and dolphins in the eastern Caribbean has been largely
left up to the tourists to direct a campaign to protect the whales and
dolphins of the eastern Caribbean. A dangerous gamble with vital marine
eco-tourism industry resources is at stake. "The Eastern Caribbean
seems to want to play Russian roulette with its tourist economy,"
says Andrew Christie, Information Director of Sea Shepherd International.
"Between scarce marine mammal protection laws and worse enforcement,
plus the eager and well-compensated acquiescence of Dominica, Grenada,
St. Lucia, and St. Vincent in Japanese plans to kick start commercial
whaling worldwide, it won't take much more than one wide-circulation
tourist video of a local whale slaughter to teach them the hard way
that you can't have your whales and kill them, too," says
Christie. (c) 2001 Donald Sutherland
TAKE ACTION
Here is a St.Lucia tourist event whose sponsors that should get the
message killing whales and tourism don't mix:
St.Lucia Jazz Festival
http://www.stluciajazz.com/ and, of course:
St.Lucia Government
http://www.stlucia.gov.lc/
Dr.Kenny Davis Anthony
Prime Minister
Director: Mr Hilary Modeste
Saint Lucia Tourist Board
http://www.stlucia.org/
P O Box 221
Pointe Seraphine
Castries
Saint Lucia
Tel (758) 452 4094/5968
Fax (758) 453 1121
slutour@candw.lc
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