Galapagos news, earlier
Jerry Wellington
wellington at UH.EDU
Fri Dec 8 16:37:27 UTC 2000
Here was one of the earliest reports - very sad indeed.
.
Jerry Wellimgton
GALAPAGOS FISHERMEN ON THE ATTACK
15-11-00
In the last three days, lawless bands of fishermen in Galapagos - an island
province of Ecuador long hailed as an international flagship of
conservation - have attacked conservation installations, ransacked
municipal offices, torched a National Park vehicle, harassed tourist
groups, taken rare captive-bred giant tortoises hostage, and threatened the
lives of conservation personnel. Complete news coverage is hard to get,
because communications out of the various islands is shaky to non-existent,
but this info has been pieced together from e-mails received from alarmed
residents and by making direct phone calls to Santa Cruz Island.
The situation reached crisis proportions around 0630 a.m. on Wednesday 15
November, when the fishermen seized island ports and posted their fast
boats at many strategic locations to harass tourists trying to visit
wildlife sites. Boat chases and other aggressions were reported against
tourist operators who attempted to proceed with their activities. The
Galapagos National Park personnel barricaded themselves in their
headquarters and the small police contingent (35 men) helped keep the
throngs of fishermen at bay, who repeatedly tried to storm the premises on
Santa Cruz, as they had already done on Isabela and San Cristobal Islands.
Police and navy protection have also been granted to Charles Darwin
Foundation offices on Santa Cruz and San Cristobal Islands, who report that
all their personnel are safe. On the Island of Isabela, the third major
fishing port, the situation is reported as totally out of control, with the
town mayor said to have fled for his life, though no details have been
confirmed.
The fishermen have three main demands: a complete abandonment of the
lobster fishing quota of 54 tons, which they filled in the first two months
of the four months season; dropping all charges leveled at some of their
members for previous violence against government property and personnel;
and an active expansion of the Galapagos fisheries management to develop a
completely new long-lining industry for currently protected shark within
the Galapagos Marine Reserve. This demand comes in complete disregard of
scientific advice or the fact that such fishing practices are widely known
to pose serious risks to many rare and unique species, such as albatross,
sea lions, sea turtles, sharks and many others.
As threats and events escalated on Wednesday, desperate messages were
received from within Galapagos calling for armed reinforcement from the
Ecuadorian military, with the pleading words "We can't hold out much
longer!" However, according to the local radio station on Santa Cruz
Island, by the end of the day the crisis had eased as the fishermen were
granted a lobster quota extension of 30 additional tons to take them to the
31st of December, corresponding to a 60% hike over and above the original
quota. It is not clear at this moment how the decision was reached to grant
the fishermen this extension. In a broadcasted speech, the head of one of
the fishing cooperatives declared the solution only temporary as the
fishermen, emboldened by the success of their tactics, demand substantial
expansion of the fishing activities inside the Marine Reserve, in defiance
of existing quotas and measures.
It should be noted that, for several years already, the fishermen have been
given a decisive voice in the Interinstitutional Management Authority in
charge of the Reserve, under which spirit of cooperation they were to
control the number of genuine local fishermen allowed to join the
cooperatives. In a spectacular failure of this mechanism, the number of
registered fishermen participating in the activity has jumped from around
500 last year to 939 at present, nearly a twofold increase, many of whom
are recent arrivals to Galapagos. It is apparently this mushrooming of
their numbers, who share the agreed quotas between them, which has turned
the fishermen against the management scheme they helped create.
The dramatic implications of this latest in a series of conflagrations is
that the fishermen have, not for the first time, seen their violent tactics
rewarded with immediate gratification. The clear message for the future is
that whenever they are unhappy with the management strategies in defense of
sustainable use of the marine environment, violent action and threats of
bodily harm is all it takes to obtain expedient results.
At this writing (1900 hours, 16 November, Galapagos local time) renewed
violence is already taking shape, with more attacks on conservation
institutions and tourism anticipated for the early morning hours as the
fishermen upscale their actions in a free-for-all of sweeping demands.
The Galapagos Islands, awarded the title of World Heritage Site by the
United Nations, have been recognized as a model of international
conservation, with enormous trust placed in the harmonious development of
an equanimous balance between human needs and environmental protection. The
focus of these efforts have at all times been aimed at combining
scientifically backed conservation strategies with the sustainable use of
the resource for the benefit of both the people and the ecosystem. Current
events are redefining those premises to allow short-term greed to rule
instead. A show of force and commitment by all levels of government in
defence of law and order and carefully crafted management strategies, is
desperately needed if the integrity of Galapagos is not to be lost forever.
******************************
News from Galapagos compiled by Tui De Roy, wildlife photographer, resident
of Galapagos for 40 years; currently living in New Zealand but maintaining
close ties with events and family there. As is well known, ever since
Darwin the Galapagos Islands have commanded world attention as a natural
laboratory of evolution, unique on a world scale for their extraordinary
fauna and flora. In today's atmosphere of accelerating global wildlife
losses, these islands stand out as a conservation marvel because
irretrievable loss of species has not yet taken a serious toll here. For
example, whereas flightless birds are usually the first to disappear from
threatened insular ecosystems, the Galapagos flightless cormorant, whose
small population of approximately 1,000 birds is trapped in the midst of
current intensive fishing activity, is the last remaining flightless
seabird in the world. Unlike all other major island groups where
extinctions are already rife, in Galapagos it would still be relatively
easy to safeguard this natural treasure for future generations. I am
sending this to all friends and acquaintances in an effort to let the world
know what is happening in Galapagos at the moment, and what is at stake for
the future, hoping some of you may be in a position to bring media
attention to the defence of Galapagos. I urge anyone interested in the
matter to seek further information and help raise public awareness in
support of the Ecuadorian government's swift and strong action. I would be
happy to answer questions at Ph. +64-3-525-8370.
=========================
UPDATE
17-11-00
The latest news, acquired mainly through phone calls (yes, the phones are
working again) appears to be that the lobstermen called off the strike on
all three islands for the moment, and are once again fishing. The State of
Emergency the government was considering may have been shelved and so some
semblance of normality seems to have returned over the weekend. But with
the fishermen still triumphant from their totally unpunished vandalism and
violence against personal safety of both conservation personnel and
tourists, it is clear they will make use of these tactics again as soon as
they see fit.
Yesterday a Committee of Santa Cruz Island Citizens was created, with
representation from all of the local associations such as traders,
professionals, conservationists, tourism, education, and others. In
addition to forming this permanent committee, the group condemned the
criminal actions of the past few days and called for firm action from the
government.
For your information, here is a succinct perspective on the economics of
fishing in Galapagos. In 1999 a three-months (legal) experimental sea
cucumber fishery involved 795 fishermen (in 222 boats), and netted the
industry over US$3.4 million in exports to Asia (4,401,657 dried sea
cucumbers totalling more than 122 tons). The 2000 sea cucumber fishery,
reopened against scientific recommendations, was closed in July upon
reaching the quota of 4.5 million sea cucumbers in two months, sold at a
price ranging between US$ 0.97 and 0.51 each. Similar attacks, although
less violent in nature than this time, were carried out in May by the sea
cucumber fishermen demanding higher quotas, whose ranks had swollen to
1.387 (in 417 boats) over the previous season. Even though the violence
lost its impetus because lowered market values of the catch in Asia fell
short of the US$9 million they had anticipated, these examples of financial
windfalls, along with widespread accusations of politicians' active
participation in the industry, are the underlying causes for the
fishermen's current notion of power and invincibility, which seems to be
bringing the government to its knees. Meanwhile, it is public knowledge
that illegal sea cucumber fishing activities have continued unabated even
during closed season. The current lobster fishery is carried out by many of
the same players as the sea cucumber fishery.
~~~~~~~
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