Russia Halts Trade in Beluga Whale Meat

[Joseph R Parrish Jr <JoeParrish@compuserve.com>]

Beside incinerator exhaust and the bottom of the Passaic River in NJ,
whale meat probably contains the highest concentrations of dioxins of 
most anything else, I have been told.  Good news below.
Joe Parrish
NJ/NY Environmental Watch

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From:	E-Wire - News, INTERNET:E-WIRE@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM
TO:	(unknown), INTERNET:E-WIRE@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM
DATE:	09/14/99 11:25 PM

RE:	Russia Halts Trade in Beluga Whale Meat

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TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITOR:

Russia Halts First-Ever International Trade in Beluga Whale Meat, Decision
Heralded by Environmentalists World-Wide

      MOSCOW, Sept. 14 -/E-Wire/-- The Russian government has today taken
swift action to halt the first-ever international commercial trade of beluga
whale meat, putting a stop to the export of 200 metric tons of meat and
blubber to Japan, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (www.ifaw.org)
announced from its Moscow office.

     Just ten days after world-wide attention was focused on this highly
criticized deal, the government of the Russian Federation has today resolved
to end the commercial hunt of beluga whales in Russia's Sea of Okhotsk,
stating that it is not sustainable, and threatens Russia's commitment to
environmental protection.  A single shipment of 13 metric tons of beluga
whale meat arrived yesterday in Hakodate, Japan before the trade was halted.

     The resolution was formalized following a high-level Russian cabinet
meeting today on the issue, involving Scherback, Deputy Chair of the
Government of the Russian Federation; Amerkhan Amerkhanov, Chair of the
Russian authorities for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Valentin Ilushenko, Russian
Commissioner of the International Whaling Commission; representatives from
the State Fishery Committee of the Russian Federation and the Russian
Federation's State Committee on the Northern Territories; and prominent
Russian marine mammal scientists.

     Since the hunt began, less than two weeks ago, international
environmental groups, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare
have been campaigning for it to be stopped.  Key elected officials in the
United States spearheaded by Congressman William Delahunt of Massachusetts,
also joined this urgent initiative.

     "This is a great success for the Russian government and its
environmental policies," said Karen Steuer, IFAW Director of Commercial
Trade and Exploitation, of the hunt ban.  "Japan's reopening of the
international trade in whale meat, would have set a dangerous precedent for
a trade that is not sustainable and that threatens whale populations
world-wide.  Today's decision by the Russian Government shows that Russians
also see commercial whaling for what it is -- an outmoded practice with no
place in modern society," Steuer added.

     Japan remains the leading proponent of commercial whale hunting, and is
the only country that still conducts 'scientific' whaling.  It hunts
Southern Hemisphere and North Pacific minke whales, killing up to 540
animals each year -- allowed due to a loophole in international regulations.

SOURCE  International Fund for Animal Welfare

     -0-        09/14/1999

     /CONTACT:  Masha Vorontsova of IFAW, Russia, +7-095-726-5934, or
Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell of IFAW, USA, 508-744-2076/

     /Web site:  http://www.ifaw.or
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Date:         Tue, 14 Sep 1999 20:25:42 -0700
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Subject:      Russia Halts Trade in Beluga Whale Meat
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