JUNE 3, 2004
NEWS RELEASE
GALAPAGOS UNDER SIEGE!
Reported by Captain Paul Watson 1800 hrs. PST
(Darwin Research Station, Santa Cruz & Isabella Islands, Galapagos, Ecuador)
Sea Shepherd crew members held hostage by angry
mob of fishermen demanding unrestricted
exploitation of Sea Cucumbers
The offices of the National Park on Santa Cruz
Island and the offices of the National Park on
Isabella Island have been taken over by angry
mobs of fishermen. Also taken were the island of
Espanola and the tourist sites there. The mob is
armed with clubs, lead pipes, & Molotov
cocktails. Our unarmed Sea Shepherd Crew had a
standoff lasting hours until just recently when
the rangers & all persons were ordered out by the
Ministry of the Environment, basically leaving
the office in the hands of the Mob. Some of the
Marines & the Police are still there but it’s a
very touchy situation. Apparently there is help
coming from the mainland.
However, our Sea Shepherd crew on Isabella Island
is still being held hostage there, and that
includes citizens from America, Canada, New
Zealand and Switzerland. There has been no word
from them at the time of this release.
People are getting weary of this mob rule…
anytime the fishermen make demands; they simply
use violence to get what they want.
They were given a quota of 4 million sea
cucumbers, that’s not enough for them, even
though the scientists have said that none was too
many. Now the fishermen are demanding
unrestricted exploitation which is an impossible
demand.
The fact is that the Galapagos Islands are a
World Heritage site. We all have a responsibility
to protect them, not just the Ecuadorians!
We possibly protect natural resources that don't
have even this so called “protection”.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is asking
that people write, fax, or e-mail the Ecuadorian
government through the embassies in their
countries and demand that the government stand up
to the mob of violent thugs terrorizing the
Galapagos.
El presidente Lucio Gutiérrez , Presidente de la Republica del Ecuador
Fax: 593-2-580-735
E-mail: <mailto:monica.iza@presidencia.gov.ec%20>monica.iza@presidencia.gov.ec
Embassy of Ecuador UK
Flat 3, 3 Hans Crescent
London
SW1X 0LS
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 75842648
Fax: +44 (0)20 78239701
Consulate of Ecuador Canada
50 O'Connor Street, Suite 113
Ottawa, ON K1P 6L2
Tel: (613) 563-8206
Fax: (613) 235-5776
Consulate of Ecuador USA
2535 15th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
Tel: (202) 234-7166
Fax: (202) 667-3482
e:mail: <mailto:consuladodc@ecuador.org>consuladodc@ecuador.org
website: <http://www.ecuador.org/>http://www.ecuador.org
Captain Paul Watson
Founder and President
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
<http://www.seashepherd.org>www.seashepherd.org
Director-Instituto Sea Shepherd Brasil
National Director-Sierra Club
Director-Farley Mowat Institute
<mailto:paulwatson@earthlink.net>paulwatson@earthlink.net
Satellite: 011-8816-3143-4290
Office: 360-370-5650
Fax: 360-370-5651
Cell: 310-701-3096
***************************************************
GALAPAGOS UPDATE - June 6, 2004
Report from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Ship R/V Farley Mowat
Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
Sea Shepherd Crew Released from Isabela Island
During the evening of June 5, six Sea
Shepherd crewmembers stranded on Isabela Island
were finally allowed to leave.
At 1300 Hours the crew, escorted by Naval
marines, went to the dock to board a Galapagos
National Park vessel. They were stopped by a
crowd of about 50 fishermen who told them they
could not leave. The marines and the crew
retreated to the office of the Port Captain
followed by the fishermen. The fishermen informed
the Port Captain that they would let the Sea
Shepherd crew depart if they would agree to sign
a document stating that they had never been
prevented from leaving and were never held on the
island against their will. The crew refused to
sign.
The Navy insisted that the crew sign the
document so they could depart. The crew contacted
Captain Paul Watson onboard the Farley Mowat and
he advised them to not sign any document.
"Do not lend credibility to that mob," said
Captain Watson. "The Navy should be ashamed of
themselves for insisting that you follow the
orders of those thugs."
The Port Captain told them that they were
not being held against their will and that they
could leave if they would just agree to sign the
document.
Cathy Davies of New Zealand said to the
Port Captain, "Can you not see how absurd you
sound? We are being held right now against our
will and you are asking us to sign a statement
saying that we are not and unless we agree to
sign this statement saying we are not being held
against our will, we will continue to be held
against our will."
The crew informed the Port Captain and the
fishermen that holding them on the island was
resulting in focusing international attention on
the situation in the islands, and if they
insisted on continuing to hold them hostage then
the negative reporting would continue.
Finally at around 1730 Hours, the fishermen
decided to let the Sea Shepherd volunteers go
without the signed documents and the crewmembers
boarded the Park boat and departed for Santa Cruz
Island.
Back on the ship, the crew reported it was
extremely strange to see armed Marines and police
being intimidated by club wielding thugs.
D-Day in the Galapagos: Sea Shepherd Lands Crew
on the Beaches of the National Park
The illegal and violent occupation of the
Galapagos National Park continues as mobs of
disgruntled fishermen on five islands continue to
hold the Park hostage to their demands.
At 0600 Hours on the morning of June 6, the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society landed a crew
of six at the Darwin Research Station behind the
lines of the fishermen barricading the Park
entrance.
Their mission was to check on the welfare
of Lonesome George and the hundreds of tortoises
in the breeding facility in the Park.
Lonesome George is the last surviving
member of his sub-species. He is over one hundred
years old although his exact age has not been
determined.
The four crew plus two members of a
documentary team from Canada moved through the
Park undetected and were able to investigate the
tortoises. They found that the tortoises were
unharmed but it did not appear that they were
being fed.
The crew then decided to walk out of the
Park and approached the main entrance.
The surprised and clearly angry fishermen
threw rocks and attacked Jordan De Vann and Alex
Cornelissen from the Netherlands, Graham
Cantellow from Britain, Jared Rubin and Edward
Curran from the United States and Cameraman Paul
Kell of Canada. The Sea Shepherd did not
retaliate nor did they say a word although they
were repeatedly struck with sticks and stones.
Paul Kell filmed the entire incident.
Ecuadorian Marines at the gate leveled
their guns at the fishermen and escorted the crew
out of the main gate.
Shortly after returning to the Farley
Mowat, the Port Captain sent a launch to the Sea
Shepherd ship to demand that Captain Watson
report to the Port office.
He did so and arrived to find Pablo Salas
the chief of marine enforcement for the National
Park, along with dozens of Naval officers and
about twenty armed marines.
Jordan De Vann and Alex Cornelissen arrived to support Captain Watson.
Captain Watson angered the Captain of
Marines when he asked Pablo Salas, "Who is this
guy?" He was referring to a man in shorts and a
T-shirt who looked like a fisherman.
The man replied in English, "I am the
Captain of the Marines and you people have caused
a serious problem here for us."
The Port Captain, Freddy Endara, and
Captain Cajas of the Marines informed Captain
Watson that his crew had broken the law by
entering the National Park.
"What law have they broken?" Captain Watson
answered. "We were never informed that we could
not enter the Park."
Captain Cajas replied, "The fishermen told
you that you could not enter the Park."
Captain Watson laughed, "When did the
fishermen start making the rules here? I don't
take my orders from a criminal mob. You tell me
to not enter the Park and we will not enter the
Park. If the Park Director tells me to not enter
the Park, we will not enter the Park. We will not
take orders from the fishermen nor should you."
The Captain of Marines angrily replied,
"This is an Ecuadorian problem, it is not your
problem. The fishermen are Ecuadorian and you are
not."
"This is a United Nations World Heritage
Site and the protection of the Galapagos is the
responsibility of all the people in the world,"
Captain Watson replied.
This answer clearly made the Captain of
Marines angry. "That is not the case, this is
Ecuador and the Ecuadorian government is in
charge here."
Captain Watson replied, "That is not true,
the fishermen with their clubs are in charge
here. Don't you realize how embarrassing this is
that an armed mob is holding these islands
hostage to their demands and you are doing
nothing? You're not in charge here, those thugs
are."
At this point some of the fishermen came
into the Port Captain's office to swear a
complaint that our crew had assaulted them.
Captain Watson reminded the Port Captain
that the entire incident was filmed and demanded
to know how fishermen who were occupying
government property could march into the military
base and complain about anything. "Have you all
gone completely loony tunes?"
The Captain of the Marines said that they
were thinking of jailing Captain Watson for three
days.
Again Captain Watson laughed. "Really, oh
please do. That would be incredible. You would
jail me for looking into the welfare of the
tortoises and yet you do nothing against an armed
gang of thugs in possession of the Park offices.
I really do hope you jail me. What a hell of a
story that would be."
The Port Captain demanded that the entire
crew that entered the Park be brought to his
office. He then informed Captain Watson and his
crew that they would not be jailed but would be
ordered out of the Galapagos immediately.
"We cannot go without fuel. We have already
paid for the fuel, and we cannot and will not
leave without it."
The Port Captain said that the Farley Mowat
would have to leave Santa Cruz and could proceed
to the island of Baltra to the fuel station and
that no crew would be allowed ashore.
Captain Watson agreed but could not resist
saying, "I suppose you are merely relaying the
orders of the fishermen."
Back on the Farley Mowat, the crew could
plainly see the National Park offices where the
fishermen were in complete control and making a
mockery of law enforcement in Ecuador.
The crew of the Farley Mowat are being
expelled from the Galapagos for investigating the
conditions of the tortoises, yet the military and
the police do absolutely nothing to stop the
on-going siege of the Park by a violent mob. The
authorities also point blank refused to address
the complaint of our crew backed-up by video
footage of the fishermen assaulting them.
Tourists should take note that according to
the Ecuadorian military, only Ecuadorians have
rights in the Galapagos and assaults against
foreigners will not be investigated, let alone
punished.
It remains a mystery how six Sea Shepherd
crew could successfully land at the Park
headquarters and check out the facilities, and
yet the Ecuadorian military and police have been
unable to gain access to the Park and to bring it
under control of the law.
The reason for this was plain to see at the
gates of the Park where the soldiers and the
fishermen were sharing the same barbeque and
drinking beer, talking and laughing together.
It represents all that is wrong with the
Galapagos. Greedy fishermen and corrupt military
are bringing this unique eco-system down. The
tourist industry and conservation interests
appear not to be represented. The tourist
industry appears to be afraid to rock the boat
and is saying very little despite dozens of
cancellations of bookings for tours.
We are seeing the beginning of the end for
this incredible natural ecological treasure. The
fishermen will most likely win their impossible
demands. Resignations will be asked for from Park
officials. Naval personnel and politicians will
pocket their bribes, and the natural indigenous
species of these enchanted islands will continue
to diminish in numbers and along with them, the
majority of people whose livelihood depends on
tourism and conservation will suffer.
All this so Asian weddings can serve
sharkfin soup and Asian gourmets can dine on the
increasingly rare sea-cucumber. For every dollar
made from this illegal and immoral trade, a
hundred dollars will be lost for the tourism
industry.
As Shakespeare once wrote, "What a piece of work is man. . ."
On the Galapagos this D-Day, the invasion
by the government to retake the National Park did
not happen, and the forces of illegal and immoral
occupation continue to hold these islands and the
future of the good people who live here as
hostage to their unreasonable and avaricious
demands.
The Ecuadorian military stands in stark
contrast to the courage demonstrated sixty years
ago on the beaches of Normandy. That was a day of
honor. Today in the Galapagos, the Ecuadorian
military should hang their head in shame for
lacking the courage to uphold law and order, to
protect the citizens of the Galapagos and the
National Park and all its wonderful and unique
species of wildlife from ignorant thugs who have
demonstrated that all it takes is mob violence or
bribery to get what you want in the Enchanted
Islands.
Today was the opportunity for the
Ecuadorian Navy and Marines to act with honor,
with courage and with determination.
Instead they have demonstrated inaction
with dishonor, cowardice and a lack of morality
and justice. They have been defeated, embarrassed
and humiliated by a small gang of thugs.
Not Ecuador's finest hour.
The Sea Shepherd flagship, Farley Mowat,
has been ordered to leave by the end of the day.
More news tomorrow.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Send letters, emails, faxes and phone calls to
the Ecuadorian government and the Media to
express your outrage on how Ecuador is handling
this situation and allowing mob rule in the
Galapagos. Tell the government officials that
you want Ecuador to enforce the rule of law and
fulfill their duty to protect this historical,
vital World Heritage Site and Marine Reserve from
rampant, short-sighted commercial destruction.
Please visit the Sea Shepherd website
(http://www.seashepherd.org) for information on
how to contact Ecuadorian officials, embassies
and consulate offices.
More contacts available at Ecuador's official website: http://www.ecuador.org
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society welcomes your
support. To learn how to support our conservation
work, please visit:
http://www.seashepherd.org/donate.shtml.
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