Questionable
The conclusion of National Alliance’s State Secretary of Public Health Joan Berkel as reported in Saturday’s paper that there were no violations of treaties with the import of dolphins by Curaçao Sea Aquarium raises questions. That especially the import of dolphins caught in Cuban waters last year could be in conformity with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Special Protected Area on Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol is doubtful at best.
Apparently the Antillean Government gave Sea Aquarium an exemption concerning the dolphins from Cuba, but such an exemption may not even be legally possible. The state secretary’s conclusions were in any case not accompanied by an explanation on exactly why there were no violations.
There was also no mention of several statements on the issue by CITES, SPAW and WSPA, as well as international experts and environmental activists, showing that there were indeed violations. That an elected administrator apparently chose to ignore so much evidence is strange, to say the least.
It’s clear from the decision to grant the exemption in the first place that especially the Curaçao parties in the Central Government support the Sea Aquarium, also because it’s an important tourist attraction on the island. That is understandable, but they should not forget that the Sea Aquarium was already popular before the dolphin programme and probably will remain just that should the programme be eliminated.
What should also be remembered is that the negative international publicity the island is receiving could in the long run do much more damage to its reputation as tourist destination. It is also giving the entire Netherlands Antilles a bad name.
Luckily the documents are also in the hands of Antillean Governor Frits Goedgedrag, who took the initiative for an investigation. Hopefully, he will not leave it at that, but will follow up rather than basing his final conclusion completely on a visit to the facility by a state secretary and Health Department official who used to work at Sea Aquarium.
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