conservazione delfini nel mondo

["Alessandro Gimona" <agimona@hotmail.com>]

Spero interessi

Alessandro Gimona


Excerpts from "Delphinpost 4/99" - quarterly journal of German Dolphin
  Conservation Society (Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine GRD, München)
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  "Save the Last Adriatic Dolphins"
  New GRD Conservation Project in Croatia

  About 220 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) live along the Croatian
  coast of the Adriatic Sea, from Rijeka at the head of the Gulf of Quarnero
  to Dubrovnik down to Montenegro. They are the last dolphin population to
  have survived in the entire Adriatic. This figure is critical. A minor
  disturbance in the ecological balance or a disease, such as the Morbilli
  virus which killed about 5,000 dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea in the
  90s, suffices to wipe out this population. Other threats, such as fishing
  nets, deliberate killing by fishermen for alleged food competition, or
  high-speed boats and jetskies put the survival of these marine mammals at
  stake.
  Together with a group of scientists and students from the Veterinary
  Faculty of Zagreb University, GRD wants to save the last Adriatic dolphins
  from extinction and protect their habitat.
  For about 15 years, Prof. Hrvoje Gomercic, Professor of anatomy, 
histology,
  and embryology at the Veterinary Faculty of Zagreb University, has been
  collecting information - mostly through necropsies - about dolphins. Not
  least thanks to his efforts, dolphins have been under legal protection
  since 1995. Nonetheless, their numbers are on the decline: in the early
  nineties their population was estimated to be about 300. With enforcement
  lacking, several dolphins still die each year in fishing nets or through
  dynamite used by fishermen.
      Other species which once were abundant in this area have become mostly
  extinct. Only rarely can one spot common dolphins (Delphinus delphis),
  striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), or Risso's dolphins (Grampus
  griseus). Another marine mammal, the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus
  monachus), has vanished in the Adriatic Sea in spite of a protection act 
in
  force since 1935. This shows that laws alone do not guarantee the survival
  of a species.

  Establishment of Sanctuaries
  To save the last Adriatic dolphins from extinction, we want to achieve the
  establishment of one or several sanctuaries where fishing activities, 
motor
  boats, jetskies and the like are prohibited. To this end, regular
  monitoring and photo identification is necessary to identify the feeding
  and breeding grounds of the Adriatic dolphins and determine the health of
  the population. Only on the basis of such data will the Croatian 
government
  create the urgently needed dolphin sanctuaries.
      Additionally, we want to increase awareness among locals, politicians, 
and
  tourists of the need for protecting dolphins and their environment. This 
is
  to be done by means of multi-language posters and flyers, and awareness
  raising campaigns, for example, at schools and fishery associations.
      Another object is the rescue of marine mammals which get lost in the 
bays
  or rivers or have stranded alive.
      For the project to be carried out within the required scope including 
the
  necessary field and rescue work and the awareness raising activities, GRD
  supports this important dolphin conservation project with money and
  equipment. Now is a good time to act since nature conservation issues can
  be addressed while industry and tourism, which have been destroyed during
  the war, are beginning to grow again. But we need to act fast. This small
  population of bottlenose dolphins might not be able to much longer
  withstand the increasing threats from fishing, tourism, marine pollution,
  and exploitation of food resources.
  Ulrike Kirsch and Ulrich Karlowski

  
****************************************************************************
  ******
  The bottlenose dolphins living along the Croatian coast are the last ones
  to have survived in the Adriatic Sea. Without appropriate protective
  measures their end is foreseeable. Still, there is a chance of saving 
them.
  We need your support in our efforts to protect the dolphins and their
  habitat in the Adriatic Sea! Donations indicating "Adriatic Dolphins" will
  be used to finance this new GRD project.
  
****************************************************************************
  ******

   Peruvian dolphins: What's going on?
  Julio C. Reyes, ACOREMA Peru

  In a previous article in Delphinpost, we summarised the situation of
  Peruvian dolphins in the years before 1996, when a Dolphin Protection Law
  came into force, and how little effect this regulation had in stopping
  fishermen from killing dolphins for human food. A recent survey of 33 
ports
  along the Peruvian coast has revealed that still hundreds of dolphins and
  porpoises are dying in fishing nets or through harpoons. The enforcement 
of
  regulations is difficult mostly because the people in charge are ignorant
  of or not interested in the legislation. Dolphin meat is sold openly in
  some fishing ports and city markets, while in other places the presence of
  the authority makes fishermen and middlemen trade dolphin products
  undercover - a black market of unknown dimensions. Sadly, even some of the
  bottlenose dolphins which are the subject of behavioural studies off the
  Pisco coastline are being the target of fisheries: up to seven dolphins,
  with no doubt coastal animals of the resident group, have been found
  butchered along the shores that ACOREMA researchers use to study dolphin
  movements and behaviour. Among the dead animals there was a pregnant
  female. The meat of all dolphins had been removed to be sold at Pisco and
  San Andrés, the nearby towns.
      ACOREMA is preparing a report to be handed to the Ministry of 
Fisheries,
  summarising our observations on illegal captures of dolphins, with
  recommendations for strict enforcement. Meanwhile, we continue our
  investigation, with the hope that we can help dolphins to make their life
  in Peruvian waters.

  
****************************************************************************
  ******
  Thanks to your help, dear friends, we were able to provide ACOREMA with DM
  4,000 (about $ US 2,000) last Christmas. Please continue to support this
  important project. Donations to our account 109 138 388, Stadtsparkasse
  Munich should indicate "Peru Dolphins". Thank you for support! Your GRD 
team.
  
****************************************************************************
  ******

   Tour Operators Boycott Horror Dolphinarium

  Unscrupulous business men operate one of the world's most appalling
  dolphinariums in the Dominican Republic, a vacationers' paradise. Together
  with WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society), we launched a massive
  protest action. Additionally, GRD convinced German tour operators such as
  LTU, Kreutzer-Touristik, Neckermann, TUI, and their associated companies,
  to boycott the "horror dolphinarium". Yet, this did not prevent the Manati
  Park Bavaro operators from importing two dolphins in October 1999, which
  were captured off the Cuban coast. Seven bottlenose dolphins are presently
  vegetating in a tiny concrete pool. The authorities in charge insist on
  keeping dolphins in the Dominican Republic, whatever the cost. Corruption,
  which is allegedly widespread even at highest levels, seems to play a 
major
  role. This makes effective action against Manati Park extremely difficult.
  The authorities of the Dominican Republic continue to stand by and watch
  this cruelty to dolphins. Together with WDCS we have therefore launched a
  large media campaign addressing the appalling conditions in the
  dolphinarium and called upon tourists to boycott Manati Park. We will
  continue this campaign until declining numbers of visitors force the
  operators to negotiate.
  +++

   GRD Protest against Japanese Dolphin Hunt
  We urged Japanese Prime Minister, Keizo Obuchi, and other authorities in
  charge, to immediately stop the capture of dolphins and the sale of 
dolphin
  meat. Early October last year, 69 bottlenose dolphins were killed in Futo
  Port and six captured to be sold to two dolphinariums. In this so-called
  "Futo Port Drive Fishery" fishermen drive dozens of dolphins into a bay
  where the animals are brutally slaughtered for meat or captured alive to 
be
  sold to dolphinariums.
  +++

   Commercial Exploitation of Small Cetaceans on the Increase
  A growing number of dolphinariums and direct hunting has led to a 
worldwide
  increase in the commercial exploitation of dolphins and other small
  cetaceans, mostly involving the death of these animals. Since most of the
  small cetaceans are listed on Annex II of CITES, which allows the
  controlled trade, the capture of these marine mammals cannot generally be
  prohibited. Dolphinariums are mushrooming in many countries. Wild dolphins
  are captured for these facilities with mostly appalling keeping 
conditions,
  where they die like flies. Current GRD action alerts include protests
  against the capture of dolphins for dolphinariums in Colombia, Chile, the
  Oarai Aquarium in Japan, and two traveling circuses (!) in Saudi Arabia.
  The one in Santiago de Chile involves the disputed dolphin therapy, which
  clever business men have discovered as a lucrative source of money. 
Similar
  facilities are planned in France and the Ukraine.
  Another small cetacean species which has recently made the headlines is 
the
  Beluga whale. Last September, Russian whalers started the hunt of a
  targeted 200 belugas in the Sea of Okhotsk to export their meat to Japan.
  The first 20 tons of whale meat arrived in Japan on September 10, 1999.
  Nine animals were captured alive and sold to the Canadian Marineland Park.
  Unfortunately, the Canadian government has not yet decided on whether to
  ban the capture and import of marine mammals requested by GRD and North
  American organisations. After an international protest action, in which 
GRD
  actively participated, the Russian government stopped the capture of the
  belugas.
  According to GRD, it is high time that the International Whaling 
Commission
  also took charge of all small cetacean species. Additionally, locally
  threatened populations should be listed on Annex I of CITES. This would at
  least create a framework for putting an end to the capture and hunt for
  commercial purposes on an international level.
  +++

   German Whale Sanctuary
  The Schleswig-Holstein parliament decided to establish a sanctuary off the
  Amrum and Sylt islands to protect harbour porpoises, the only whales to be
  found along German coasts. In this part of the North Sea, the harbour
  porpoises rear their offspring. Outside the sanctuary, these marine
  mammals, which grow up to 1.8 meter in length, are facing threats from
  overfishing and gill nets. High noise levels caused by jetskies and
  high-speed ferries pose additional threats to the raising of the young
  ones. The establishment of a sanctuary prevents such massive disturbance 
in
  the cetaceans' nursery.
  +++

   EU Fishing Fleet Causes Overfishing
  A far too large EU fishing fleet is the main culprit for overfished EU
  waters, but also other areas, such as the waters off Argentina and West
  Africa. According to WWF, 60 % of the precious fish populations, e.g. 
North
  Sea codfish or Baltic Sea salmon, are overfished worldwide, or are about 
to
  reach this state. Recognizing the necessity of reducing the fleets, the EU
  has provided billions of subsidies in its present fishery program
  (1994-1999) for such a reduction. However, simultaneously the EU provides
  similarly high funds for building and modernizing fishing vessels. In
  Germany, the ship building and modernizing costs -- more than DM 56 
million
  (about $ US 28 million) -- have so far been almost five times the amount
  for reducing the fleet. New or modernized ships increase the overcapacity,
  which, in turn, puts more pressure on the already overfished populations.
  The EU's double financing renders the reduction programs absurd. Not only
  is such a policy a waste of tax money, it also endangers the long-term
  profitability of the fishing fleets.
  +++

  South Africa Wants to Capture Wild Dolphins
  German Dolphin Conservation Society (GRD) has urged South African Minister
  for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr. Valli Moosa, to refuse the 
grant
  of a permit to Port Elizabeth Museum to capture wild dolphins for their
  Oceanarium. "The capture of wild dolphins disrupts the wild population and
  puts the animals under enormous stress. Many dolphins are likely to die,"
  says a GRD spokesperson. 27 dolphins have already died during capture or 
in
  the Port Elizabeth Dolphinarium.
  In May 1998, the non-profit Oceanarium, which belongs to Port Elizabeth
  Museum, announced its plans to capture wild dolphins, triggering a storm 
of
  protest among animal welfare and conservation organisations. Above all,
  they critized the poor keeping conditions: in 1995, three dolphins died
  within a short space of time, a female dolphin and her son are left.
  According to the director, Sylvia Van Zyl, about three to four bottlenose
  dolphins are to be captured to establish a breeding group.
  Initially it seemed that the Oceanarium officials were at least willing to
  settle for a compromise and acquire captive dolphins from other 
facilities,
  rather than capturing wild ones. However, for reasons of costs, they
  decided otherwise. The entire capture operation will cost about about $ US
  60,000, while buying a single dolphin already in captivity would cost
  between about $ US 40,000 and 60,000, excluding transportation expenses.
  Port Elizabeth Dolphinarium claims to have moved away from pure
  entertainment shows towards presentations of educational nature. "We 
wonder
  about the educational value in disrupting a dolphin population to display
  the animals in desolate concrete pools, in particular in a country like
  South Africa where you can watch wild marine mammals right on your
  doorstep," says GRD.
  +++

  U.S. Government Sued for Mass Killing of Dolphins
  Ten nature conservation organisations have filed suit in the US district
  court of San Francisco to stop the so-called "Dolphin Death Act." The
  amendment introduced in late April 1999 allows tuna to be sold as "dolphin
  safe" in the USA even if caught by chasing and encircling dolphins with
  purse-seine nets. "The Dolphin Death Act is kind of a license to kill
  thousands of dolphins," says a GRD spokesperson.
  Submitting to pressure from Mexico, which invoked the North American Free
  Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to back up its claims, and other tuna fishing
  nations in Latin America, the U.S. government has lowered its formerly
  strict standards regarding the import of "dolphin-safe" tuna, which were
  only introduced in 1992. The weakened standard might mean up to $ US
  1,000,000 per year for Mexico alone. Claiming that the purse-seine
  technique had no significant adverse impacts on the dolphin populations, 
US
  Commerce Secretary William Daley made its decision in spite of
  international protests from nature conservation organisations including 
GRD.
  About 100 tuna fishing boats equipped with purse-seine nets of 1.6 km in
  length - floating factories which stay at sea for up to three months and
  load up to 2,000 tons of tuna in their on-board freezers - are presently 
in
  operation; about 45 ships from Mexico alone. Dolphin schools are encircled
  with these nets to catch the tuna swimming about 150 meters underneath the
  dolphins. This method has caused the death of about 7 million dolphins in
  the past 40 years. Under the new legislation, tuna caught with this method
  may now be sold as "dolphin-safe" in the USA as long as an on-board
  observer reports no dolphins killed or seriously injured during this
  procedure. However, this does not take into account the fact that many
  marine mammals die from injuries or the traumatic experience after having
  been released from the nets, as studies conducted by the US National 
Marine
  Fisheries Service have revealed.
  Since the introduction of the "dolphin safe" standards, the dolphin
  mortality rate has decreased by 97 percent in the eastern tropical 
Pacific.
  Yet, the populations have not recovered significantly. While the American
  tuna fishing fleets and tuna processing industry are willing to maintain
  the previous strict standards, there is concern that the market will soon
  be flooded with falsely labeled tuna from Mexico.
  The environmental groups now hope for an immediate injunction or for the
  judge to rule from the bench against the "Dolphin Death Act."


  Translation: Ulrike Kirsch

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine
  German Dolphin Conservation Society
  Kornwegerstr. 37 - 81375 München - Germany
  Tel.: 0049-89-74 16 04 10 - Fax: 0049-89-74 16 04 11
  www.delphinschutz.org
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