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Cetacean Society International Whales Alive! - Vol. XI No. 2 - April 2002 Stop the Russian Beluga ExploitationCSI urges all readers to respond to the following modified Action Alert from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society: Russia's "Decree 1551" authorizes a 2002 quota of 1,550 beluga whales and at least five orcas to provide subsistence for its indigenous peoples. The Decree also allows "scientific, cultural and educational use" of the whales, which means captivity. Russia is so cash poor that the lucrative international market for captive displays has motivated some unscrupulous exploitation of limited marine mammal populations. The quota for 50 belugas from the White Sea, for example, could remove an unsustainable 5 percent of a population of only 1000, more if one adds the probable fatalities from the capture operations. The captures and killing of several populations is in direct conflict with the emerging beluga whale watch industry, promising economic growth in impoverished regions. Belugas have been subjected to over-hunting for decades, and also are now threatened by fishing, industrial development, oil and gas exploration and extraction, ships, and pollution. In 1999 only four of the 29 beluga populations were even "stable", according to the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee, yet the quota was for 2,100 belugas! International protests in 1999 forced an interruption in the killing, and Russia kept a zero quota for 2000. The killing returned in 2001, as Russia declared a beluga quota of 1,900, while refusing to supply scientific data on populations and contaminant loads to the IWC's Scientific Committee. How You Can HelpPlease write a polite letter, fax or email to the Russian President, copied to his officials, urging the Russian government to do as it did in 1999 and cancel the beluga quota on the grounds that there is insufficient evidence that it will be sustainable. Urge him strongly not to permit the live capture of belugas or orcas for the captivity industry. President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov Vladimir Alexeevich Grachev Vitaly G. Artyukhov Go to next article: Right Whales: There Is Hope, One Whale at a Time or: Table of Contents. © Copyright 2002, Cetacean Society International, Inc. URL for this page: http://csiwhalesalive.org/csi02203.html |