Killing and exporting beluga whales

Only weeks after the Russian Government bowed to international pressure and cancelled the killing and export of 500 beluga whales to Japan, it has gone back on its word and allowed an export of live belugas. WDCS has learned today that the Russian authorities, in the name of science, have permitted the export of nine female belugas captured in Russian waters to 'Marineland Niagara' in Canada - the same facility about which the Canadian Government expresses concern for its ability to care for and maintain belugas.

On 14 September, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia ordered an end to a hunt in Russian waters of up to 500 beluga whales destined for the Japanese dinner table, and refused to issue any further export permits for the species. The Government also revoked permits allowing Russians to kill or capture a total of 2,100 belugas across Russia in 1999, citing damage to Russia's reputation as well as uncertainty about the size of the populations and, therefore, the sustainability of the hunt. Animal welfare and conservation groups had hailed the policy change as evidence that Russia was taking seriously its commitments to two international treaties banning commercial whaling and international trade in whale products. This recent sale of nine belugas reveals deep cynicism on the part of the Russian authorities.

While a senior Russian official commented on the abrupt end to the meat exports three weeks ago with the statement, "the insignificant revenues we can get from selling white whale meat abroad are incomparable with the wave of growing indignation in the world", it seems that the considerable value of live belugas can negate such considerations. A single captive beluga can fetch as much as much as $60,000. They are advertised through the internet by Russian dealers offering a "15 day survival guarantee".

WDCS believes that this export to Canada not only breaches Russia's self-imposed ban on beluga hunting and export, but it also breaks international law. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) states that Russian cannot grant an export permit for the live belugas without first providing a guarantee that the capture was legal and that trade will not be detrimental to the survival of the species. Yet, only two weeks ago, the Government made capture and export of belugas illegal on the basis that it could not give such a guarantee.

Sue Fisher, Campaigns Manager at WDCS accuses the Russian Government of unacceptable cynicism: "How can the Russian Authorities have such a short memory of the compelling reasons for their retraction of the original hunting and export quotas. Money is obviously talking. To claim, as they will, that the capture and export of these nine animals is for scientific research and is, accordingly, exempt from the ban, is a joke. These poor animals are going to a theme park to entertain the public".

The status of the whole beluga species is cause for concern, with the International Whaling Commission (IWC) concluding earlier this year that only four out of 29 beluga populations are 'stable'. Belugas are threatened across their Arctic range by oil and gas development, over-hunting, over-fishing, vessel traffic, industrial development and pollution. Some populations are in serious decline. Despite the classification of all stocks of beluga whales in Russian waters as 'unknown' or 'depleted', the Government set hunting quotas for 2,100 beluga whales in 1999. (Order of the Government of the Russian Federation", January, 11, 1999). On 22 September 1999, following a deluge of criticism from governments and the public alike, about the sustainability of the hunt and the illegality of both the hunt and the trade with Japan, the Deputy of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation issued a Protocol admitting that the Allowable Catch (AC), or quota, "had been established in accordance with experts estimation, which does not allow to identify the actual size of the belugas populations within the economic zone of the Russian Federation". He concluded that "Establishing AC due to the experts estimation as well as the amount of products allowed to be exported, can not only course economical loses, but as well damage the reputation of the Russian Federation on the International arena".

In the Protocol, the Government instructed its State Committee of the Environment to stop issuing CITES export permits for marine mammal (beluga) products for the year 1999. It also instructed the State Fishery Committee of the Russian Federation to forbid the issue of new hunting permits for beluga whales and to withdraw hunting permits issued earlier. By way of a proviso to keep the lucrative Russian captivity industry alive, the Protocol states that "it is important to keep…… the practice of li[v]e capturing belugas for scientific purposes", and instructed the relevant authority to "identify economically expedient amount of marine mammals (belugas) for … scientific research". The capture and export of nine belugas to a dolphinarium, described in its own literature as a 'theme park' where guests can see performing whales and dolphins, does not, by any stretch of imagination, qualify as 'scientific research'. Accordingly, the Russian Authorities authorising this export are in breach of the Protocol issued by the Deputy of the Chairman of the Government and, therefore, of CITES regulations.

The Canadian Government has refused several requests by Marineland Niagara in 1998 and 1999 to permit it to capture belugas from Canadian waters for its display, on the grounds that Marineland could not demonstrate a need for more whales, and concerns about its ability to care for and maintain beluga whales specifically. An Government official stated in 1999 that "We felt that there was not enough proof of Marineland's capacity to deal with belugas, given that he hasn't had them before".