Group presses Ecuador, US Congress over Galapagos
Date: 25-Jul-02
Country: ECUADOR
Despite the danger their nets pose to dolphins, tuna fishermen often trawl in the pristine Galapagos islands, home to hundreds of unique species that inspired 19th century British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) conservation group said in a statement local officials in the Pacific Ocean archipelago found 70 dolphins killed or injured by fishing nets cast for tuna in May from the Colombian boat "El Dorado" boat.
"WWF is calling on the U.S. Congress to oppose reducing tariffs for Ecuadorean tuna under the Andean Trade Preferences Act until Ecuador proves it will strengthen and enforce laws to protect Galapagos marine reserve and its biodiversity," the group, which has representatives worldwide, said.
El Dorado worked with Ecuadorean tuna company Inepaca. There was no-one available to comment at Inepaca's offices in the port city of Manta, the heart of the country's important tuna industry.
Ecuador hopes to sell tuna to the United States under the trade act being debated in Congress that would give goods from Andean nations preferences as a reward for the region's fight against the illegal drugs trade.
The trade benefits are considered vital for Ecuador, which increasingly relies on export revenues to sustain its economy since it adopted the U.S. dollar as its currency in 2000. Tuna was the country's fifth biggest export last year.
Ecuador's tuna industry lobbies the government to be able to fish within Galapagos' marine reserve which was declared a U.N. Natural Heritage site last year and is located 600 miles (1,000 km) west of the mainland. But local environmentalists oppose any industrial fishing in the archipelago,
Environmentalists have periodically campaigned against the tuna industry around the world because of dolphin deaths.