The HSUS and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
(WDCS) present the following statement from marine experts
opposing the killing of whales to protect fisheries resources.
A number of international experts from the fisheries world,
whale biologists and other scientific fields have already
signed on to the statement, and we invite other qualified
scientists to add their names.
Increasingly, those who commercially (and in the name of
"science") exploit whales have been developing and propounding
the following notion: Because whales are consumers of
commercial marine resources, they should be culled to reduce
competition with commercial interests. We wish to publicly
state our concern with this argument.
This is an extreme oversimplification of a complex issue. We
believe that many policy-makers, fishermen, and members of the
general public are being significantly misled. Marine
ecosystems are still incompletely understood, and the
suggestion that changes to one component of a marine ecosystem
(such as natural marine predators) will bring benefits to
fisheries may be wrong. Certainly claims need to be evaluated
on a case-by-case basis where adequate data are available.
People exposed to the argument that whales and other species
at the top of the marine food chain need to be culled to
protect or boost fisheries should note who promotes these
ideas. Vocal supporters are invariably parties with an interest
in the exploitation of marine predators. Few if any legitimate
scientists have endorsed this "theory."
Many marine ecosystems are already fragile, and changes to
their components may further destabilise them. The primary
problem for world fisheries is not predation by marine wildlife
(the main predators of fish in the oceans actually being other
fish) but overfishing by human beings. This is the one simple
fact in a very complex situation.
Sincerely,
Tundi Agardy
Sound Seas
6620 Broad Street
Bethesda, MD 20816 USA
Frank Cipriano
Conservation Genetics Laboratory
Department of Biology
Hensill Hall 445
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132 USA
John C. Goold
Institute of Environmental Science
University of Wales, Bangor
Robinson Building, Deniol Road
Bangor, LL57 2UW UK
Daniel Pauly
Fisheries Centre
University of British Columbia
2204 Main Mall
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4 Canada
Roger Payne
Ocean Alliance
191 Weston Rd.
Lincoln, MA 01773 USA
Naomi A. Rose
The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street NW
Washington, DC 20037 USA
Mark P. Simmonds
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
Brookfield House
Chippenham
Wiltshire SN15 1LY UK
David Suzuki
David Suzuki Foundation
2211 West 4th Avenue, Suite 219
Vancouver, B.C. V6K 4S2 Canada
Andrew W. Trites
Marine Mammal Research Unit
Fisheries Centre
University of British Columbia
2204 Main Mall
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4 Canada
Hal Whitehead
Department of Biology
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4J1 Canada
