David @ Tokyo

Reuters has an article about calls in Australia for crocodile culling. The article is apparently in response to a plan released by the local environment ministry.

"It's a classic example of lateral thinking," Queensland politician Bob Katter said on Thursday in ridiculing the plan.

"Instead of removing the crocs, they're going to remove human beings"

"I think that there should be a bounty paid on crocodiles for a period of time and in selected areas and I think that there should be proper armaments provided to people to be able to do that cull," Katter told local radio recently.

From the other side of the debate:

Queensland Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr rejected fears that crocodile numbers had exploded.

"It's more likely that more people are visiting or moving into croc habitat, and so more people are noticing crocs," she said this week in releasing the conservation plan.

"Saltwater crocodiles are a vulnerable species with only about 30,000 believed to be left in the wild in Queensland."

"In developing this plan, the Environmental Protection Agency aimed to get the balance right between public safety, sustainable commercial use of saltwater crocodiles and protecting these ancient, vulnerable animals in the wild," she said.

The Minister uses the phrase "only about (number) believed to be left in the wild". Such talk can only serve to mislead where species that are perfectly capable of reproduction and increasing in number are concerned.

Crocodile expert Graeme Webb has a paper at the IUCN's sustainable use specialist group website on conservation through sustainable use.

Labels: sustainable use

One area of focus of the Government of Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme is fisheries related development assistance.

The Overseas Fisheries Consultants Association (OFCA) foundation is apparently one organization involved in the programme. Their homepage (sorry, Japanese only it seems) describes their activities.

You can however get an idea of where in the world they are active from the following pages (which have maps)

• "Preliminary Activity Operations"
• "Technical Personnel Dispatchment Operations"

I might come back to some of this an translate later, but for now here is my translation of their first page which basically covers what OFCA is, and what they are about:

About OFCA

A great many countries including Japan rely heavily on marine resources, and in people of developing countries also seek animal protein from this source. As such, considering the fact that the global population is increasing, marine resources play an important role as supply source for animal-based protein. However, as seen from the decrease in resources due to unregulated fishing and excessively developed coastal areas, year-by-year the environment for the fisheries industry is becoming increasingly severe, and an important current concern is how we may manage and most effectively utilise these limited marine resources. Above all, amongst developing countries that are in a transition phase from small time fishing to commercial fishing, there are those aiming to move from a "taking" fisheries mentality to one of "fisheries cultivation", those encouraging increased production in fresh water based aquaculture under restricted conditions, and so on, resulting in a variety of development plans being made to promote fisheries in a range of different environments. In such nations, however, from economic and technical perspectives the true situation leaves much to be desired, with operations not proceeding as planned in many places. Therefore assistance from developed nations is required. OFCA is actively working to contribute to fisheries promotion in these developing nations, by utilising our experience and high-caliber technology in the fisheries field, of which our country is placed at the top level in the world.

Founded: 1989 February 28
Jurisdiction: International section, Resource Management Department, Fisheries Agency
Representative: Toru Morikawa (Chairman)

The state of the fisheries industry

The global population broke through 6 billion in 1999, however amongst those, 14% or 840 million people are in a situation where they are not receiving adequate food. Moreover, the UN estimates that by 2050 the global population will reach 10 billion. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that 35% of the world's important fisheries resources are in an overdeveloped state, and 47% are currently developed to the maximum levels possible. The 1998 Rome Declaration on the Implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries states the importance of striving towards the following.

* The suitable and sustainable use of the world's fishery resources
* Access through an ecosystem approach to fisheries management
* The contribution of fisheries towards the national economic and social goals of states and the attainment of world food security

In light of this, Japan, as the world leader in the fisheries field, is proactively working towards fishing effort reduction, marine resource aquaculture, and maintenance and preservation issues. In developing nations, besides marine resources being a precious source of protein for citizens, they are also indispensable for advancing the livelihoods of small time fishermen, as they are a source of foreign exchange income. Therefore, there is a need for us to continue to proactively expand our co-operation in this field. In turn, in order to plan for future production increases within the fisheries industry, it is necessary to make efforts in new fields, such as of course the further development of aquaculture industry, the servicing and creation of fishing grounds, and the new development of marine resources which are currently not being effectively utilised. In particular, because of excessive protection due to some developed nations and the egos of environmental protection groups, effective utilization is restricted. Due to the over-increase in some species such as whales, ecosystems may be damaged leading to negative repercussions for fishing. Thus it is necessary to plan for the effective utilization of yet-to-be exploited and un-exploited marine resources. OFCA is contributing to the world fishing industry taking into consideration these circumstances.

More to come on Fisheries ODA.

Labels: Fisheries ODA, sustainable use

Here is a report at the Precautionary Principle Project homepage from a WSSD related event:

A round table discussion on the role of the precautionary principle in natural resource management was held at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa, August 2002. The main focus was the perspective of developing countries

A summary of a presentation by South African scientist Doug Butterworth is included:

Following a brief outline of the PP's history and application in the context of fisheries, Doug Butterworth (University of Cape Town) looked at what action should be taken in cases of uncertainty. He emphasised that the recommended catch should not be based on the best estimates of sustainable yield alone, but should take the level of uncertainty into account. The greater the uncertainty the lower the recommended catch should be. This is the basic idea of the precautionary approach and it is incorporated into the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the UN Fish Stocks Agreement. But in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) it is stated that in cases of uncertainty, Parties should act "in the best interest of the conversation of the species". In theory, applying this rule would always result in the worst-case scenario to be used as a basis for decision-making. In reality, however, this was not the case, he argued. Instead, decision-making usually involved a quantification of risk and a comparison with some acceptable level of risk. This approach was, for example, reflected in the IUCN Red List, which called for a "precautionary but realistic" attitude to uncertainty. He concluded by expressing concern that the PP, in absence of a proper definition and necessary quantification, had developed into a slogan by those that wanted less or no utilisation of natural resources. Instead, science-based decision-making was required that took into account uncertainty, in order to find a sensible middle ground between the proponents and opponents of "sustainable utilisation".

Something to bear in mind.

Labels: Doug Butterworth, sustainable use

The recent article in the BBC from Eugene Lapointe of the World Conservation Trust that I mentioned yesterday may have been timed to co-incide with a symposium recently held by the IUCN in London which found "strong links between recreational hunting, conservation & rural livelihoods".

Some important points in my mind:

The need for good governance at all levels was a theme echoed by many speakers.

And:

Among the outcomes to be further considered by the SUSG ... the need for wider understanding of the contribution which hunting makes to pro-biodiversity land management and livelihoods.

I'm not a hunter myself and I probably never will be. The same will go for many people who care about conservation, and thus likely have a kneejerk reaction of cringing at the idea of recognising the killing of animals for recreation as an OK thing.

Nonetheless it's hard to deny the benefits that have been seen through the approach in pure conservation terms, as argued by Eugune Lapointe and here at this symposium.

The animal welfare groups in particular will fight this tooth and nail, I imagine.

Labels: Eugene Lapointe, IUCN, sustainable use

The BBC is running an article on the notion of sustainable use for conservation, after an opinion piece by the IWMC - World Conservation Trust's Eugene Lapointe was published in their "Green Room".

Lapointe uses developing countries in Africa as an example of where this approach has been successful, comparing positive outcomes in Southern African nations where consumptive use is embraced, with Kenya where consumptive use has been rejected but poaching remains an issue.

An IFAW spokesperson responding to the BBC was naturally outraged (the IFAW think that killing animals is not "morally justifiable"), but Dr. Peter Lindsey from the University of Zimbabwe agreed that overall the benefits of an approach embracing consumptive use, of which sport hunting is one manifestation, make it neccessary to retain for conservation purposes.

The IUCN (World Conservation Union) also broadly supports sustainable use as a conservation mechanism. Their sustainable use policy can be found here.

Labels: Eugene Lapointe, sustainable use