Russian Conservationists Prevail: Court Rules Orcas & Belugas Caught Illegally
Russian conservationists have prevailed in their court challenge to the catching of orcas and beluga whales last summer in the Sea of Okhotsk.
On May 31st, 2019, the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court ruled that the permits for the captures of beluga whales and orcas, issued by the Russian state Fisheries Agency, were illegal. Under Russian law, orcas and beluga whales can be captured only for scientific or public education purposes, not for sale overseas for profit.
Natalia Lisitsyna, a lawyer at Sakhalin Environmental Watch, one of the plaintiffs in the case, told Russian media: “In fact it means that the orcas and belugas were caught illegally in the first place, and there are no grounds for keeping them in captivity in Srednyaya Bay. We are ready to appeal any decision taken by the Russian State Fisheries Agency."
A total of 11 orcas and 90 beluga whales were originally captured last summer and placed in sea pens in the notorious Whale Jail in Srednyaya Bay on Russia’s Pacific coast, hundreds of miles from where the animals were captured. One orca and three beluga whales have subsequently disappeared and are believed dead (likely disposed of by the capture companies).
The Russian government subsequently blocked issuance of any export permits – all the orcas and beluga whales were planned to be sold, likely for millions of dollars, to Chinese aquariums. So far, the Russian government has also blocked new captures proposed for summer 2019 and have blocked quotas for orcas for 2020. (The Russian Fisheries Agency is reportedly still studying capture permits for beluga whales in 2020.)
The court so far has not made any recommendation that the captive orcas and beluga whales be released. Expert scientists, working with the International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute, examined the whales and announced that their health needs to improve before release back into the wild. These experts maintain that some of the animals need immediate treatment for skin lesions and other diseases caused by the stress and captivity.
At the same time, the scientists are unanimous in urging that the whales have the best chance of survival if they are returned to the Sea of Okhotsk where they were captured and where their family pods are found – many of the captives are very young and not likely to survive if not reunited with their families.
The Russian government has generally favored release of the whales, but there is considerable internal debate as to where and when. Some claim release at Srednyaya Bay would be cheaper and good enough, but the consulting scientists believe the whales would be unable to find their family pods and may expect to be fed, leading to conflicts with fishermen and shipping traffic in that area.
Photos of Russian Whale Jail by Harry Rabin.
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