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Controversial dolphin exports go ahead in Solomon Islands
Honiara (AFP) Oct 17, 2007 A company in the Solomon Islands exported 28 live dolphins to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, four years after the government halted the trade when such a shipment caused international outrage. The dolphins were taken amid tight security to Honiara from their holding pens on an outlying island and then escorted by police to two cargo planes for the 30-hour journey to Dubai. No protesters blocked the shipment, though several international conservation groups have decried the decision by the government to allow the resumption of the live dolphin trade, saying it is inhumane. Lawrence Makili, a director of the San Francisco-based Earth Island Institute, said photos published this week showing dolphin carcasses on the side of a road leading to the pens were a sign the animals were under stress. "What concerns me is that these animals died before being shipped out," he said. "They're under stress before even getting on the plane." On Wednesday, security guards kept sightseers away from the dolphins, with only a few journalists allowed to film the loading. Robert Satu, a company director of the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre and Exporters Limited, said the dolphin sale was done with the approval of the United Arab Emirates and Solomon Islands governments. The tiny Pacific nation had banned the trade in live dolphins in 2003 following an outcry over a shipment to Mexico. But Satu took the government to court, claiming the ban was illegal, and won in a landmark ruling earlier this year. The government -- which has changed since the shipments were stopped -- has now given the trade its blessing and a high-level delegation will be in Dubai to mark the dolphins' arrival. A bid by the Earth Island Institute to stop the flight was rejected by the the Solomon Islands High Court, which said there was insufficient evidence to support the group's claim that the exports were inhumane. The logging industry is the main source of income in the Solomon Islands, but forests are being cut down at unsustainable levels. Satu has said the dolphin trade could help promote economic development and there were plans to export dolphins to other parts of the world. Related Links Follow the Whaling Debate
Norway police probe sabotage claim in whale ship sinking
Oslo (AFP) Sept 13, 2007Norwegian police said Thursday they were investigating a claim from a group of environmental activists that it deliberately sank a whaling ship last month. |
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