ACS Conservation Committee Report

ACS Conservation Reports are selected summaries of current news articles on whales, dolphins, porpoises, and their environment. These reports are offered to you under the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

 U.S. Eased Rules on Tuna Despite Bribery Claim ...   The U.S. Commerce Department has been aware for five years of allegations that government observers on Mexican tuna-fishing boats were regularly taking $10,000 bribes to concoct false reports that they were not netting dolphins, according to an internal agency e-mail obtained by The San Francisco Chronicle.

Bush administration lawyers have argued that the allegations were not relevant to the government's 2002 decision to relax restrictions on foreign- caught tuna. The decision allows tuna caught by foreign boats that set nets on dolphins -- which follow the fish -- to be sold in U.S. as dolphin-safe, provided the dolphins are released.

Critics say the e-mail demonstrates that the Bush administration ignored key evidence and that its decision undermined longstanding environmental protections.

"The whole basis for protecting dolphins in countries that set nets on them is that there are reliable observers on board," said Mark Palmer of Earth Island Institute, a San Francisco environmental group. "If the observers are being bribed, obviously, the entire program falls apart."

Last year, after Earth Island challenged the government's decision, an injunction by Judge Thelton Henderson of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco prevented implementation of the rule.

For more than a decade, the dolphin-safe label has guaranteed U.S. consumers that the tuna they are buying was caught by nets that did not trap dolphins. Before U.S. regulation to protect them, dolphins that swim above schools of tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific were dying by the hundreds of thousands a year.

The government says current dolphin kills are less than 1,500 a year. But dolphin species that were depleted by decades of losses have not recovered -- a critical fact in the current case and one that the government says it can't explain.

Commerce Secretary Donald Evans ordered the rule change under a 1997 law that allowed dolphin-safe standards to be relaxed if supported by scientific research. Government lawyers have stated in court documents that the Commerce Department had "not considered or relied upon" the e-mail in reaching its decision to relax the standards.

The 1999 e-mail was between staff members for the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the Commerce Department. It noted that there were plausible reports that observers on Mexican tuna boats operating under the authority of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission routinely were taking $10,000 bribes to falsify data on dolphin nettings.

According to the e-mail, an American fisherman who worked aboard Mexican tuna boats was interviewed by federal fisheries biologists. The fisherman claimed, "Although they always had observers on board, it was common knowledge throughout the fleet that the observers were regularly paid off to misreport what happened during the cruise."

The e-mail noted that the observers weren't being bribed to ignore dolphin deaths "...because they apparently have relatively few. ... They were instead paid substantial sums of money to report their dolphin-caught tuna as 'dolphin-safe' when they were actually being caught on dolphins."

On April 15, Judge Henderson called government arguments that the e-mail was irrelevant to the rule "specious."

"Documents ... that go to the reliability or credibility of data relied upon by the decision maker are plainly relevant. ... The government's failure to acknowledge this point is deeply troubling and reveals a glaring omission in the manner in which the record was compiled," Henderson wrote.

Maureen Rudolph, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney who represented the Commerce Department in the case, said she could not comment on the matter because it is being litigated. Justice Department spokesman Blain Rethmeier said government attorneys are responding to Henderson's order and are providing all documents relevant to the case.

Palmer of Earth Island had obtained the e-mail from Defenders of Wildlife, another environmental group. The government had submitted the e-mail as part of its documentation in its response to a separate lawsuit Defenders of Wildlife had filed on tuna rules.

David Burney, executive director of the US Tuna Foundation, a group that represents the interests of the American canned tuna industry, said the possibility of corrupt observers "is extremely serious, and it's certainly relevant to any review of the case. I would think it would have a real bearing on what it means to be dolphin-safe, and ultimately (Commerce's) position. It should make the government take a harder look at this."

Burney said American tuna processors support the more stringent definition of dolphin-safe promoted by Earth Island Institute and other environmental groups. "We absolutely will not buy dolphin-encircled tuna," he said. "It's clear to us that U.S. consumers don't want it. I think any move in that direction would cause a big outcry."

California's Senator Barbara Boxer and Rep. George Miller filed a press release and letter with Secretary Donald Evans of the Dept. of Commerce in response to the revelations of bribery of observers in the ETP tuna fishery. The letter asks that the Department of Commerce place an indefinite ban on allowing Mexican tuna to be labeled "dolphin safe."

Boxer said, "It is extraordinary that the Commerce Department did nothing following these bribery charges and continued to issue the 'dolphin-safe' label as though nothing was wrong."

Miller said, "Despite widespread protests at the time, the Commerce Department weakened dolphin protections in 2002. Now we learn that it has long failed to act on evidence of violations of the existing rules. The Commerce Department must provide a real guarantee that the 'dolphin-safe' label is not just an empty promise."

The Legislators also asked the Commerce Department to strengthen the "dolphin-safe" label by retracting a 2002 finding that allowed the labels to be placed on tuna harvested through chase and encirclement, a fishing process that kills dolphins.     San Francisco Chronicle

 Marine Mammal Protection Act Under Attack Again...   After months of little or no action, Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) has determined that he would like to get some action passed out of the House before the November election on the bill to change and weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Marine Mammal Protection Coalition (ACS is a member) has been invited by Rep. Gilchrest's staff to offer comments on the amendment. Little response is expected. Most of what is being proposed is very bad for marine mammals. It is not expected that the Senate will take up the MMPA at all this year. Please keep up the pressure on your Congressional representatives to stop these harmful changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act.    

 Icelandic Whale Watching Decreases...   There has been a tenfold decrease in whale watching bookings in North Eastern-Iceland in the last few months. ÁsbjÖrn BjÖrgvinsson, chairman of the Icelandic Whale watching Association, has sent a letter to Parliament members in the North Eastern constituency, stating his worries over the dramatic decrease in bookings of foreign tourists for whale watching trips this spring. Only 25 foreign tourists have booked whale-watching trips in North Eastern Iceland this spring compared to 250 at the same time last year. "It is not only the whale watching companies that lose money on this, but all other tourist companies in the area, such as hotels, restaurants, bus companies, various suppliers and airlines that move these people to and around the country." ÁsbjÖrn says that their business partner in the UK, the travel agency Discover the World, thinks that the main reason for this decline in bookings is likely to be the whaling of Iceland. ÁsbjÖrn says that in the letter to the MP's, they are encouraged to react to this threat and push for unnecessary whaling to be stopped this summer.     BBC

 Norway Opens Whale-hunting Season...   Whaling vessels have left Norway for the Barents Sea to open this year's whale-hunting season, defying an international moratorium and protests.

The Norwegian government has set a quota of 670 minke whales for the season, which runs until August 31st. The Scandinavian nation is the only country in the world that authorizes whaling for commercial purposes. Iceland and Japan are the only other nations to hunt whales, though they claim to do so for scientific reasons.

Norway started commercial whaling again in 1993, despite an international ban on the practice seven years earlier. It argues the hunt is needed to stop the whale population from growing so large that it devours huge stocks of fish. It says the minke whale population levels remain healthy and are not endangered by its annual hunt.

However, the demand for whale meat in Norway has been diminishing for years, and there is currently an excess in storage.

Controversy has also focused on the manner in which the whales are killed. Environmentalists say the grenade-tipped harpoons that explode inside the beast are unnecessarily cruel. Whalers argue it is one of the quickest methods for killing a whale.     BBC

 Norway Blasted Over Sensors Trial...   Environmentalists started the 2004 whale hunting season by criticizing a Norwegian trial system that replaces inspectors on ships with computerized sensors. Critics said the new "blue boxes" -- which are to be installed on 14 out of about 40 whaling boats this year -- can be too easily manipulated and will not record how long it takes for the huge sea mammals to die after they are harpooned. "Human surveillance is best," said Frode Pleym of Greenpeace. "Any other system allows manipulation."

Whale expert Egil Ole Oen, who developed the blue boxes, said the sensors, packed in tamper-proof portable computers, would record a variety of data, including the vessel's location, when harpoons are fired and when a carcass is winched aboard. He rejected an international campaign launched by some 200 anti-whaling groups in March, who have called for a ban and say whales survive for two minutes on average after they are hit.

"We know that at least 80 percent of the animals die or lose consciousness instantaneously," the associate professor at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science said. "It's like switching out the light."     Reuters

 Norwegian Whalers Trying to Create Whale Recipes ...   Whalers are scouring global recipe books to spice up the whale meat in Norway and Japan, the two main whaling nations where unenthusiastic demand may be a bigger long-term threat to the hunts than any amount of foreign criticism.

Norway's 2004 hunt of 670 minke whales started in early May, but piles of frozen meat from the 2003 season is still in stores a decade after Oslo broke with an international moratorium and resumed commercial hunts in 1993, setting its own quotas.

No one has an overview of how much whale meat is still left from 2003 in Norway. Whalers sold their catch to supermarkets, which decline to divulge stocks. Norwegian whalers say that warnings last year from health authorities that pregnant women should avoid whale meat because of high mercury content did not help sales. Scientists also said the blubber had toxic chemicals known as PCBs.

And in Japan, which caught 440 minke whales for what it calls scientific research in a season ended in March, whale consumption is on a long-term decline despite slogans like "Save them. Eat them," meant to wet new appetites.

Whale meat has some fervent devotees but reminds many others of post-war austerity when it was a cheap source of protein. Many young people, meanwhile, have never acquired a taste for the tough and gamy sea mammal meat.

In Norway, supermarkets have turned to brochures suggesting novel recipes from stroganoff to hamburgers. Whale in Mexican tortilla wraps, for instance, suggests strips of fried whale with taco sauce and accompanied with red pepper and lettuce.

In Japan, one whale recipe book includes whale kebabs, whale with noodles, sushi, whale soup, whale fried rice or even canned whale meat sandwiches.

Environmentalists opposed to the hunts say that whale demand is falling and that the hunts will halt for lack of interest. "In the end the market will finish off the hunts," said Frode Pleym at Greenpeace. Greenpeace says that whale watching would bring in far more money than the hunts.

Norway's total whale meat production is about 1,000 tons, or roughly 200 grams (7.0 ounces) or one meal a year for each of Norway's 4.5 million inhabitants.

In Japan, consumption has been falling since World War II. And 440 minke whales among 125 million Japanese means per capita consumption is tiny.

From being an important source of cheap protein served in schools as recently as the 1960s or 1970s, it has become a costly item for gourmets.

Japan, Norway and whaling newcomer Iceland, which harpooned 36 minke whales last year after a 14-year break, have said that they have felt minimal economic impact - for instance on tourism - from foreign criticisms of the hunts.

Apart from minkes, Japan also does so-called survey whaling often to catch more controversial species like sperm whales, sei whales and Bryde's whales. Those surveys are due to start in June, an official at the Fisheries Agency said.     Reuters

 Japan Again Defies the International Whaling Commission...   Once again, Japan's whaling fleet has set sail for the North Pacific, to hunt hundreds of whales for meat and blubber for Japan's domestic market. Although the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned commercial whaling since 1986, Japan's two whaling operations abuse a loophole in the IWC's treaty that permits the killing of whales for scientific research.

The IWC has described Japan's scientific whaling operations as "an act contrary to the spirit of the moratorium on commercial whaling and the will of the Commission" and stated that the treaty is "not intended to be exploited in order to provide whale meat for commercial purposes and shall not be so used". Since Japan's scientific whaling operations began in 1987, the IWC has adopted over 20 resolutions calling on them to stop. However, these and many other resolutions and decisions have been completely ignored by Japan.

Nicolas Entrup, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society representative says, "Japan is defying almost every resolution the IWC has ever adopted, its ban on commercial whaling, and the international ban on trade in whale meat. With the departure of its North Pacific whaling fleet, Japan is telling the world that it doesn't care about public opinion, it doesn't care about international regulation; it doesn't care about the health of Japanese consumers and it doesn't care about the conservation and welfare of whales. It just cares about profit".

Resolutions and decisions ignored by Japan:

• A ban on the use of the non-exploding harpoon (Japan still allows this to be used in its scientific hunts);
• A ban on whaling in a whale sanctuary designated by the IWC in Antarctica (Japan kills over 400 minke whales each year in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary);
• Resolutions calling on Japan to halt its Pacific whaling operation immediately (Japan increased the program to include three new species);
• A resolution urging member governments to save whales caught in fishing nets (Japan has legalized killing them for commercial sale);
• Resolutions stating that Japan's stated research objectives do not meet critically important research needs and can be achieved by using non-lethal means. (Japan kills increasing numbers of whales each year for research);
• Resolution asking Japan to reduce its kills of Dall's porpoises and striped dolphins (Japan continues to kill over 10,000 Dall's porpoises and hundreds of striped dolphins annually);
• Resolutions affirming an international ban on commercial trade in whale meat (Japan has imported whale meat from Norway and has recently proposed the legalization of trade in minke whales);
• Resolutions expressing concern about human health problems arising from contaminated whale and dolphin products (Japan continues to permit contaminated products to be sold and is encouraging and subsidizing their consumption by children);
• Resolutions urging improvements in whale killing techniques to reduce the time it takes a whale to die (whales killed during Japan's hunt in the Antarctic still take on average over two and a half minutes to die and only 40% are recorded as dying instantaneously);
• Statements of concern that Japan's whaling in the Antarctic is harming a critically endangered stock of minke whales (Japan continues to kill a significant number of 'J stock' animals annually).

In addition, Japan refuses to discuss, or denies the IWC has competence to address, its dolphin hunts, welfare issues, the size of its whale meat stockpiles, human health issues, satellite monitoring of whaling boats and catch documentation schemes (even though it accepts both in its fishing operations). Japan has also failed to submit any data at all on the time it takes to kill sperm whales in its Pacific hunt. These whales are particularly large and difficult to kill and WDCS fears that the cruelty involved with the hunting of this species may be extreme.     WDCS

 Luna Update: Plans for Reunification with Family...   Luna, the young orca who has been away from his family in Puget Sound for at least 2 years, will be temporarily confined in a net pen in Pedder Bay near Vancouver, BC, if an attempt fails to reunite him with his pod at the entrance to Nootka Sound.

An attempt will be made to lead the whale out of the sound just as his pod is passing by, but even the most optimistic supporters of that approach know it is unlikely to succeed.

The killer whale pod, which spends its summers in Washington State's San Juan Islands, covers tremendous distances. Luna's pod is not usually seen in the waters off Nootka Sound, an inlet about 140 miles northwest of Victoria on Vancouver Island's west coast.

Leading him out into the open water would be best for everyone, and especially for Luna, but the chances are pretty remote,'' said Ed Thorburn, a field supervisor with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

If that plan fails, the 4-year-old orca will probably be packed into a sling in a tank on a huge truck and, with police escorts and a contingent of veterinarians and scientists, be hauled to Pedder Bay. About 75 pounds of live fish will be piped into the net pen each day so Luna does not get used to receiving food from humans.

The next step will depend on the whales: "We wait for L Pod to swim by and hope they make contact," Joyce said.

The aim is to have the relocation plan ready to go between mid-May and the beginning of June, but everything rests on the Vancouver Aquarium raising enough money. The fund raising is moving slowly and if not enough is on-hand, the plan could go seriously awry.

Although officials once considered releasing Luna in the San Juan Islands if a reunion attempt fails, they have now determined Pedder Bay is the best environment for him, said spokeswoman Lara Sloan with the Vancouver office of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Luna, or L-98, appeared in Nootka Sound, an inlet off Vancouver Island's west coast, more than two years ago after separating from his U.S. pod. He has managed to feed himself but has also taken to socializing with people, cozying up to boats and nuzzling seaplanes.     AP

 Orcas "Yelling" to be Heard...   The killer whales of Puget Sound are showing new behaviors, possibly affected by the amount of boat traffic around them in the summer season.

Over the last decade there has been an acute increase in boat traffic including commercial shipping and tourist boats, compared to the number of orcas, which has been falling since 1996. Researchers from Durham University (UK) and the Whale Museum (Friday Harbor, US), have compared recordings of orca calls from as far back as 1977. The team found that there was a 10 - 15% increase in the duration of calls made by orcas during the 2001 - 2003 recording period, while there has been a fivefold increase in boats following the orcas between 1990 and 2000. The research suggests that these orcas are lengthening their calls to be heard over the noise of the boats.

In a quote given to BBC News Online, Andy Foote of Durham University said, "The whale-watching vessels quite often act as a beacon attracting the tourist boats. This increases the amount of traffic around the whales even more. While the whale-watching vessels behave responsibly - try not to start their engines up when they're on top of the whales and so on - the tourists aren't always aware of quite how to behave with the whales. If the growth in boat traffic continues apace, it could start interfering with the orcas' ability to find food."

The orcas make longer calls when boats are present but it appears they only do this when the noise reaches a certain critical level.     BBC and The Oregonian

 Humpback Whales Sing More Often...   The male humpback whale is believed to sing its mysterious songs mainly for the same reason mainly to attract females. Researchers had thought the male humpbacks sang to attract females only during their winter mating season in the tropics. Now, scientists know the humpbacks also sing during springtime in New England, where they supposedly are focused on eating.

The findings, gathered by observing humpbacks roaming feeding grounds off Cape Cod, undermine long-held assumptions about humpback behavior, said whale biologist Phillip Clapham of the Northeast Fishery Sciences Center, co-author of a paper on the singing in the current issue of Proceedings Royal Society, Biology.

"It tells us whales don't read the text books, which is really annoying," he said.

The whales haven't suddenly taken to a new stage off the Cape, said Cornell University professor Christopher W. Clark, a bioacoustics expert and the paper's co-author.

"I'm sure they were doing it," Clark said. "We just never listened."

Clark and Clapham had hoped to hear the chatty, rare and hard-to-track North Atlantic right whale when they began recording in an area of Georges Bank, about 80 nautical miles east of the Cape, between May and June 2000. Instead, they heard almost nothing but humpbacks singing. The singing Clark heard and the sporadic humpback sounds he expected to hear are as different as a grunt at the dinner table and a grand opera.

Humpbacks have a range that covers eight octaves, from a bass so low that humans can't hear it to a magnificent soprano, Clark said. Their highly structured songs include multiple themes that are constantly repeated and even rhyme.

The songs last up to 30 minutes, and the whales embellish like jazz musicians, seeing "who can improvise in some attractive way better than the other (whale)," Clark said.

Aside from attracting mates, singing is also believed to establish a hierarchy among male humpbacks. Some theorize the singing breaks out among migrating whales as they start to mix.

Clapham said the whales could be singing because their hormone levels are still high from winter. Or they could be establishing bonds with females in hopes of hooking up during the next mating season, he said.

They also might be trying to immediately mate with females who didn't conceive the previous winter, he said. Whaling catch data indicates humpbacks have been conceived outside of the winter mating season, even though it's rare for females to ovulate then.

More study is needed on the humpbacks, which are an endangered but recovering species, with an estimated 11,500 in the North Atlantic. Clapham said in the end the spring singing may just be a chance for "low cost advertising" ... the male humpback is eating and there are females around, so he might as well give it a shot, mating season or not.

"Males take any opportunity they can to attract the females, across the animal kingdom," he said.     AP

 Scotland Passes Dolphin Protection Bill...   This week the Scottish Parliament demonstrated its commitment to protecting Scotland's whales and dolphins by passing a bill which includes key measures aimed at preventing disturbance and harassment of these much loved animals.

The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill contains provisions that will make it an offence to 'intentionally or recklessly disturb or harass' a whale, dolphin or porpoise. It also charges Scottish National Heritage with the preparation of a code of conduct which sets out how commercial and leisure vessels should approach and view whales and dolphins with the minimum of disturbance. The code will also give guidance enforcers as to when the law has been broken.

Conservation groups have been concerned for some time that disturbance poses a threat to Scotland's whales and dolphins and particularly the fragile population of bottlenose dolphins in the Moray Firth which number just 130. Damaging behavior such as driving boats too fast or too close can cause disturbance and potentially drive the animals away from areas important for feeding and breeding.     WDCS

 California Legislature Taking Steps to Ban Cruise Ship Dumping...   Recently the California State Assembly passed a bill to ban the dumping of "graywater" waste from cruise ships along the state's coast. The measure by Assemblyman George Nakano, D-Torrance, was sent to the Senate by a 51-13 vote.

Graywater is drainage from dishwashers, sinks, showers, baths and laundries. It can contain pollutants such as oil, grease, detergents, pesticides and heavy metals.

Ships that violate the prohibition could be fined $25,000 for each release, although the bill would allow the state Water Resources Control Board to exempt ships that meet certain requirements, including use of wastewater treatment systems that meet regulatory standards.

Nakano's bill follows legislation enacted last year that barred cruise ships from dumping sewage and oily bilgewater into coastal waters.     AP

 Royal Caribbean Will Upgrade Waste Systems...   Royal Caribbean International cruise lines will add equipment to its ships that will better clean sewage and waste water before it's dumped in the ocean, officials said in early May.

The ships' equipment will clean the up to 24,000 gallons of sewage or "blackwater" and 265,000 gallons of "graywater" from laundries, showers, sinks and dishwashers each dumps daily when it's at sea.

The announcement came a month after the nonprofit advocacy organization Oceana and other groups called for the cruise line to clean up its sewage and wastewater to protect marine habitats and human health. At the time, the company accused the groups of "grandstanding."

"We are confident today this technology economically and environmentally can treat graywater and blackwater to levels of purity equivalent to Alaska wastewater standards," Royal Caribbean chairman and chief executive Richard Fain wrote in a letter to Oceana officials.

After state and federal laws were passed setting stricter standards for cruise ships in Alaska in 2000 and 2001, many ships installed more advanced wastewater treatment systems that enabled them to meet them, said Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines.

Oceana officials said Wednesday that Royal Caribbean's decision was "a precedent-setting move."

"Our hope all along has been that if we have Royal Caribbean do this the others will follow their lead," spokesman Sam Haswell said.

Crye said that ICCL, which represents 15 of the world's leading cruise lines, has made a commitment to do wide scale installation on ships. No time frame has been set.

Royal Caribbean now has such systems on three of its 29 vessels. The advanced systems use ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis to reduce pollutants. They will eventually be added to the other 26 ships and any new ships brought into the fleet.

Royal Caribbean says it has improved its environmental practices since 1999, when it paid $27 million after acknowledging it had polluted repeatedly and lied to the Coast Guard about it.     AP

 Plastics Now Widespread in the Oceans...   Plastics permeate civilization, from shopping bags to shirts, computers to car bumpers. And as all of that plastic is discarded, it is permeating the environment, too ... to a microscopic scale.

The latest evidence comes from a study conducted around the British Isles that shows accumulations of microscopic fibers and bits of synthetic polymers in beach and seabed sediments.

The study also examined an archive of samples of plankton filtered from seawater from the 1960s through the 1990s, and found a big jump in the concentration of plastic particles amid the plankton in the last two decades. The growth was consistent with the sharp increase in manufacturing and sales of plastic goods and packaging in those years, the researchers said. Their study appears in the current issue of the journal Nature.

Although the sampling was mainly around Britain, the global spread of plastic flotsam and jetsam probably means that other areas are seeing buildups, too, said the lead author, Dr. Richard C. Thompson, a marine ecologist at the University of Plymouth.

Larger plastic items are hazardous to sea life. It is unclear whether tiny fragments of bigger items pose ecological risks, although they were readily ingested by worms, barnacles and other bottom-dwelling life in tank tests, the researchers said.

Robert S. Krebs, a spokesman for the American Plastics Council, a trade group, said the problem was improper disposal. "Debris in the oceans is a problem," he said, noting that the council had worked with manufacturers to limit direct disposal of plastic like the small pellets used as raw material by factories.

Krebs said the biggest challenge was preventing discarded plastic from blowing or floating away. He noted that water in almost every region of the United States eventually drained into the sea.

"You can't point your finger at one type of material," he said. "We all share the responsibility for keeping stuff from going into the ocean."     The New York Times