Saturday 30 December 2000 Battle over ecosystem in Ecuador QUITO: The Galapagos Islands, the natural laboratory that Charles Darwin used to develop his theory of evolution, are now the scene of a man-made struggle for survival of the fittest between fishermen and conservationists. Fishermen on the Galapagos archipelago, angry about limits on their lobster catches, have ransacked the Charles Darwin Foundation's research stations and harassed tourists in recent months. They even took giant Galapagos tortoises hostage, kidnapping them from a breeding centre. The hundreds of fishermen halted their protests in mid-November after the government met their demands by loosening limits on lobster trapping, increasing the quota to 80 tons from 50 tons and extending the fishing season through the end of the year. But the struggle didn't end there. Now, Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendon said Wednesday, the fishermen are demanding "absolute liberty to fish, to use highly destructive methods, such as long-line fishing, and absolute freedom to fish for shark fins," currently an illegal practice in Galapagos waters. The Galapagos archipelago, 600 miles west of the Ecuadorean mainland, is Ecuador's main tourist attraction. Its species of plants and animals, found nowhere else in the world, have unique characteristics that were made famous by Darwin, the 19th century naturalist. The foundation bearing his name is a main promoter of conservation of the island chain's delicate and threatened ecosystem. Much of the current turmoil stems from a 1998 law that gave residents greater political autonomy but also established a marine reserve extending 40 miles offshore. Within the reserve, only tourism and local small-scale fishing are permitted. "We are resentful of the authorities because they don't let us fish," said Vincent Torres, a resident of Isabela Island, the largest in the chain. "They come and tell us that now we cannot do the same things we have done for a lifetime." The fishermen have powerful allies in Ecuador's commercial fishing industry on the mainland. "I am in agreement with the demonstrations of discontent by the fishermen because it is tourism and the increased population on the islands that are harming the ecosystem," said Cesar Rohon, president of Ecuador's National Chamber of Fishing Trade. "To administer fishing one must understand it, and the government does not know what resources are available in the Galapagos," Rohon said. "The ecologists, who have international support, don't know what to do with those resources." Rohon denied that Ecuador's fishing fleet wants to exploit protected Galapagos waters. But he did not rule out the possibility "that fishing fleets from other countries enter the zone and are very difficult to control." Fernando Espinoza, executive director of the Charles Darwin Foundation Research Center, contended that larger commercial interests are at work behind the scenes of the fishing protests. "We know there are people who have offered to buy entire catches of lobster, sea cucumbers and shark fins from the fishermen of the Galapagos Islands. It is a tremendous business," Espinoza said, without elaborating. It is a business that has attracted more fishermen to the islands from Ecuador's mostly poor population on the mainland. This year, 939 fishermen took part in the Galapagos lobster catch almost double the number registered a year earlier. The increase not only depleted the lobster population at a dangerous rate, but also decreased annual earnings for each fisherman, the Darwin Center has said. It also made other catches on the island, like shark fins and sea cucumbers, more attractive. Shark fins are a delicacy in many Asian countries, where they are considered an aphrodisiac and fetch as much as $40 a pound. The sea cucumbers, bottom-feeding invertebrates crucial to the shallow water ecosystem, are also an Asian delicacy. The fishermen can sell them for $1 a piece. "Fishermen who can get a couple of thousand sea cucumbers are doing as well as a dope dealer selling cocaine on the mainland," said Dr John McCosker, chair of aquatic biology at the California Academy of Sciences. McCosker criticised Ecuador's government for giving in to the fishermen's demands last month by upping the lobster limit. "It's tragic, the short-term gain of a few fishermen versus the long-term survival of the Galapagos," he said. "They are killing the golden goose."(AP) For reprint rights:Times Syndication Service Copyright © 2000 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. Disclaimer _______________________________________________ Crashlist website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
