> GALAPAGOS CRISIS:
>
> SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL AND ENDANGERED ANIMALS HELD HOSTAGE
>
> CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION AND GALAPAGOS NATIONAL
> PARK SERVICE HELD HOSTAGE BY ARMED FISHERMAN
>
> -News from Conservation Network International. January 31, 1995
>
> Masked fisherman (calling themselves Pepineros/or sea cucumber
> collectors) armed with clubs and machetes, seized control of the
> properties of the Charles Darwin Research Station and Galapagos National
> Park Service boat, on Tuesday, January 3, 1995, in the community of
> Puerto Ayora, Galapagos. The launch for the CDRS was sunk and access
> to/from the airport was cut off by the vindictive pepineros. The seizure
> lasted three days.
>
> CDRS and Park personnel were confined to buildings. Those who live
> within the Park and Station campuses were rarely allowed to leave. In
> effect the two institutions, their staffs, the facilities and the
> breeding groups of giant tortoises and land iguanas were held hostage in
> a World Heritage Site. Apart from a broken arm and an unexploded bomb in
> a Park Service, the level of violence has not yet attracted the attention
> of the international press. However, those who realize what is at stake
> recognize that if the Ecuadorian government continues to submit to the
> black market demands of these fisherman, the world will lose the largest
> virgin island (Fernandina) in the world, as well as the last significant
> population of Hammerhead sharks.
>
> In recent months, Conservation Network International (CNI) has confirmed:
>
> -$1billion Sucres (~$40 million US) were transferred thru the two
> Galapagos banks. One fisherman cashed a US$ 50,000 check.
> -Uncontrolled fishing boats are harvesting everything marketable from
> the sea floor. The fisherman continue to cut mangroves for fuel to
> boil their catch and there are floating brothels for entertainment.
> -Fishing boats carrying chickens, dogs, and inevitably rats and mice are
> pillaging the coasts of western Isabela and Fernandina Islands.
> -An "experimental" sea cucumber fishery and a shark fishing industry
> were endorsed by the government on June 23, 1994. A limit of 550,000
> sea cucumbers was set by the authorities. No means of regulation was
> established and an estimated 6 - 10 million were taken before the
> government finally tried to stop the "experiment".
> -The reason for the violence and hostage situation is that the
> fisherman are demanding the reopening of the sea cucumber fishery.
>
> The crisis has now entered a dramatic level of exploitation while the
> current border dispute between Peru and Ecuador is attracting attention
> away from the crisis in the Galapagos.
>
> Due to the political and socio-economic pressure, The Darwin Foundation
> has been unable to forcefully denounce and combat the environmental
> travesty that has developed. Conservation Network International, Inc. was
> formed as a non-profit organization in July, 1994, to oppose a series of
> commercial fisheries in the Galapagos.
>
> WHAT YOU CAN DO:
>
> 1. Write a letter to the President of Ecuador
>
> Pres. Sixto Duran Ballen
> Garcia Moreno 1043
> Quito, Ecuador
>
> With copies to:
>
> Lic. Armando Espinel
> Ministerior de Informacion y Tourismo
> Quito, Ecuador
>
> Ab. Gustavo Gonzales
> Subsecretario de Pesca
> Guayaquil, Ecuador
>
> Lic. Jorge Barba
> Director INEFAN
> Quito, Ecuador
>
> Sr. Director
> Diario EL COMERCIO
> Quito, Ecuador
>
> Sr. Director
> Diario EL UNIVERSO
> Guayaquil, Ecuador
>
> Lic. Arturo Izurieta Valery
> Intendente del Servicio Parque Nacional Galapagos
> Puerto Ayora
> Islas Galapagos
> Ecuador
>
> 2. Call your travel agent and any journalists who might be interested in
> this issue and feel free to refer them to Conservation Network
> International.
>
> 3. Support the efforts of Conservation Network International to expand
> our publicity campaign and stop the exportation of shark fins and sea
> cucumbers from the Galapagos.
>
> Conservation Network International will continue to support the local
> Galapagos naturalists who are now risking their lives to stop the
> exploitation. CNI has no employees and all contributions are invested
> directly for the cause. Our intentions are to stop the exploitation of
> all marine resources from the Galapagos and do what ever is necessary to
> insure the long term preservation of this world heritage site and the
> last significant population of Hammerhead sharks.
>
> Conservation Network International, Inc.
> Jack Grove, President
> 146 N. Sunrise Drive
> Tavernier, Florida 33070
> Tel/Fax 305-852-6004
>
> PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED!!
>