To fill a contract of over 1 million seal pup skins by 2019 on a seal population lower than 850,000 seals.
Enshrined in the Namibian constitution is the sustainable use of living marine resources. Environmental sustainability is the process of making sure current processes of interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the environment as pristine as naturally possible.
Should the planned July 2011 seal harvest be halted, Namibia would end the last remaining country in the southern hemisphere harvesting seals.
In less than 30 days Namibia will start its annual
slaughter of over 91,000 endangered Cape fur seals, in which mostly seal pups
are clubbed to death in a harvest driven by commercial gain. To fill a contract
of over 1 million seal pup skins by 2019 on a seal population lower than 850,000
seals. Various boycotts and protest marches will be held around the world in
condemnation.
Seal Alert-SA is calling upon the Prime Minister of Namibia to consider
halting the annual seal harvest and commission a Legal Commission of Enquiry to
investigate the lawful legislation or lack thereof governing current seal
harvesting. The legal opinion commissioned can be downloaded - http://www.mediafire.com/?cx8225tknr6vvc8
Should the seal harvest be halted, Namibia would end the last remaining
country in the southern hemisphere harvesting seals.
Jurisdiction in law is the very basis upon which a nation defines its
sovereignty or goes to war and upon which the foundation of authority and law is
indeed based. Jurisdiction (from the Latin ius, iuris meaning "oath" and dicere
meaning "to speak") is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted
legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on
legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area
of responsibility. The term is also used to denote the geographical area or
subject-matter to which such authority applies. Jurisdiction draws its substance
from public international law, conflict of laws, constitutional law and the
powers of the executive and legislative branches of government to allocate
resources to best serve the needs of its native society. It is the legal
definition between right and wrong, criminal or lawful, innocent or guilty and
upon which a society functions. No Minister should be permitted to flout
"jurisdiction" or ignore entirely this basis in the foundation of law and order.
It is within Jurisdiction that permits the nation of Namibian to exist or
permits the Minister of Fisheries to lawfully harvests marine resources
including seals within its borders. It is within jurisdiction that the media has
been banned from filming the seal cull, where film-makers where arrested and
charged with fines of up to N$500 000 or 12 years in prison. It is within
jurisdiction that the Minister of Environment and Tourism charges tourists
millions of dollars to view seals and it is within jurisdiction that the
Minister of Fisheries grants long-term sealing rights to harvest a million
endangered seal pups until 2019.
Flouting jurisdiction, is therefore criminal and punishable under Namibian
Law.
Consider carefully the implications of such acts. Should the Minister
unsustainably harvest seals in such a manner as to cause seals to flee from
their natural habitat on islands to safer waters in South Africa or Angola,
would it be permissible for the sealers to go after those fleeing seals and
harvest these seals in South Africa or Angola. Clearly not, some might even view
such actions as a act of war. Likewise should sealers have disturbed these
endangered protected seals to such an extent as to cause these seal colonies on
islands to collapse and go extinct, and seals to flee to alternative habitat on
the mainland as a result, beyond the lawful jurisdiction of the Minister of
Fisheries, whose jurisdiction within Namibia ends at the borders of his country
and the high-water mark on the mainland.
Would such actions to move harvesting activities to the mainland, flout
jurisdiction and rights of private property, to simply pursue seal killing, be
lawfully justified and acceptable to all, either from a legal or wildlife
conservation perspective?
Enshrined in the Namibian constitution is the sustainable use of living
marine resources. Environmental sustainability is the process of making sure
current processes of interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea
of keeping the environment as pristine as naturally possible.
The legal opinion referred to above documents the implications of such unlawful actions by a Minister of State and sealers alike.
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