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Posted by Wes von Papineäu on December 30, 2000 at 11:12:14:
THE GUARDIAN (London, UK) 30 December 00 Galapagos turmoil: Tortoises dragged into fishing war (Alex Bellos)
The normally tranquil Galapagos islands have become the scene of a struggle between conservationists and fishermen, who have taken giant tortoises hostage in their fight for bigger quotas.
In recent months fishermen on the archipelago where Charles Darwin developed his theories of evolution have also ransacked a research station and harassed tourists.
The dispute centres on fishing for sharks and sea cucumbers and the islanders' wish to use modern techniques banned in Galapagos waters.
"We are resentful of the authorities because they don't let us fish," said Vincent Torres, a resident of Isabela island, the largest in the chain. "They come and tell us that now we cannot do the same things we have done for a lifetime."
But conservationists are afraid that increased fishing will devastate one of the world's best-preserved areas of marine life. The archipelago, 600 miles west of the Ecuadorean mainland, has species of plants and animals, including the giant tortoise, not found elsewhere.
Much of the turmoil stems from a 1998 law which gave residents more political autonomy but also set up a marine reserve extending 40 miles offshore. Within the reserve, only tourism and local small-scale fishing are permitted.
The problem is also a consequence of the increasing population of the islands and the difficulty many face in trying to survive. In 1950 there were 1,000 islanders. Now there are 16,000, and the number is rising by 6% a year, despite efforts to curb it.
The fishermen have powerful allies in Ecuador's commercial fishing industry.
"I am in agreement with the demonstrations of discontent by the fishermen, because it is tourism and the increased population on the islands that are harming the ecosystem," said Cesar Rohon, president of Ecuador's national chamber of fishing trade.
"To administer fishing one must understand it, and the government does not know what resources are available in the Galapagos," he added.
"The ecologists, who have international support, don't know what to do with those resources."
Fernando Espinoza, executive director of the Charles Darwin Foundation research centre, said wider commercial interests were behind the protests.
"We know there are people who have offered to buy entire catches of lobster, sea cucumbers and shark fins from the fishermen of the Galapagos islands. It is a tremendous business," he said.
It is a business that has attracted more fishermen from Ecuador's mostly poor mainland population. This year 939 took part in the Galapagos lobster catch - almost double the number registered a year earlier.
The increase not only depleted the lobster population at a dangerous rate, it also decreased annual earnings for each fisherman, the Darwin Centre said. It also made other catches on the islands, including shark fins and sea cucumbers, more attractive.
Shark fins are a delicacy in many Asian countries and fetch as much as £66 a kilo. The fishermen can sell the sea cucumbers, which are crucial to the shallow water ecosystem, for 60p a piece.
"Fishermen who can get a couple of thousand sea cucumbers are doing as well as a dope dealer selling cocaine on the mainland," said John McCosker, chairman of aquatic biology at the California Academy of Sciences.
Last month, under pressure from the fishermen, the government raised the lobster limit from 50 to 80 tonnes.
Environmentalists said it was "institutionalising blackmail".
Mr McCosker said: "It's tragic, the short-term gain of a few fishermen versus the long-term survival of the Galapagos. They are killing the golden goose."
