Bagga whalers volunteer to stop killing orcas

Barrouallie whalers have volunteered to stop killing orcas, commonly known as killer whales, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Environment Fund (SVGEF) said on Tuesday.

SVGEF said that for the past 10 years it had been calling for a gradual shift towards whale watching, and working hard in Barrouallie, where pilot whales have traditionally been caught, to create alternative livelihoods towards this goal.

A press release said that Samuel Hazelwood, the chief whaler in Barrouallie, wrote to the SVGEF in December stating that, sensitive to the growing concern over the previous 10-plus years to the killing of the orcas, Barrouallie whalers had decided to stop the hunt of the killer whale.

The fund said that the whalers presented a request to the SVGEF to fund two fish aggregating devices (FADs) which would facilitate the catching of tuna, in exchange for them giving up the killer whale hunt.

A meeting was held at the Fisheries Division, facilitated by the chief fisheries officer, to discuss the stopping of the hunt.

On Jan. 16, an agreement was signed between the four whalers of Barrouallie and Louise Mitchell, on behalf of the SVGEF, to end the killer whale hunt in exchange for the investment in two FADs.

SVGEF said Hazelwood is building the FADs in Barrouallie, following international best practices (no nets) as well as guidance from Blue Marine Foundation.

The FADs will be installed off the leeward coast of St. Vincent.

“The whalers have honoured the agreement, even though no legislation has yet been passed in Parliament. Since the agreement orcas have made safe passage in the waters of St. Vincent and the Grenadines noted by the whalers having reported seeing pods of orcas in recent weeks who were spared due to this agreement,” the press release said.  

The release said that over the years, the SVGEF, and before it, the SVG National Trust, was involved in many initiatives to expose whalers and people from whaling communities to the lucrative business of whale watching worldwide.

“Investments were made in sending persons from whaling communities to view whale and dolphin watching in Boston, USA, Patagonia, Argentina, and even Australia.

“The SVGEF has had support over the years from Carolina Cassani of Fundacion Cethus, an NGO out of Argentina, which has conducted training sessions over the years on sustainable whale watching and the importance of it being conducted in a regulated manner that does not impact on the whale habitats and socialization patterns.”

The SVGEF also supported the whale-watching business “Alex Tours”, run by Kirk Grant of Bottle and Glass, Barrouallie.

Mitchell congratulated the Barrouallie whalers, in particular Hazelwood, for being out front on this initiative.

“It is not easy to spearhead change, but there are times when change is the right thing to do, for your community, for your country and for the preservation of the planet,” Mitchell said.

“Whales are known to be the greatest sequesters of carbon and their conservation helps to stop the warming of the planet, which is putting our very existence on Earth at risk.

Meanwhile, Hazelwood said:

“We will desist from catching the killer whales. We realise this is an issue, Caribbean-wide and even worldwide, although we make a good bit of money from the killer whales but there are times when we do have to come to a compromise so that other people can feel a bit at ease in relation to how we are fishing.”

The SVGEF said it will continue to be at the forefront of discussion in conservation of cetaceans as it develops its relationship with the whaling and fisherfolk communities at large among our various projects.

“But now one thing is for certain, that through this agreement, the SVGEF and the whalers of Barrouallie can say that orcas are safe in Vincentian waters.”