Hope you all are able to write at least one letter about this, while
there is little discussion among those involved concerning the bird life
of the Galapagos, the future will certainly be bleak if exploitation of
the local fisheries and the concommitant increase in population continues
unchecked. All people with whom i've talked have stressed that the
government of Ecuador IS responsive to international opinion and
pressures like those which we can produce by writting to Ecuadorian
officials and travel agencies. WE CAN help to have a positive influence
on this situation as it developes.
This will be my last post to Tweeters on this subject, people may feel
free to contact me directly for more info, so as not to clutter
everyones' mail boxes.

(forwards removed for brevity)

>GALAPAGOS CRISIS:
>
>SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL AND ENDANGERED ANIMALS HELD HOSTAGE
>
>CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION AND GALAPAGOS NATIONAL
>PARK SERVICE HELD HOSTAGE BY ARMED FISHERMAN
>
>-News from Conservation Network International. January 31, 1995
>
>Masked fisherman (calling themselves Pepineros/or sea cucumber
>collectors) armed with clubs and machetes, seized control of the
>properties of the Charles Darwin Research Station and Galapagos National
>Park Service boat, on Tuesday, January 3, 1995, in the community of
>Puerto Ayora, Galapagos. The launch for the CDRS was sunk and access
>to/from the airport was cut off by the vindictive pepineros. The seizure
>lasted three days.
>
>CDRS and Park personnel were confined to buildings. Those who live
>within the Park and Station campuses were rarely allowed to leave. In
>effect the two institutions, their staffs, the facilities and the
>breeding groups of giant tortoises and land iguanas were held hostage in
>a World Heritage Site. Apart from a broken arm and an unexploded bomb in
>a Park Service, the level of violence has not yet attracted the attention
>of the international press. However, those who realize what is at stake
>recognize that if the Ecuadorian government continues to submit to the
>black market demands of these fisherman, the world will lose the largest
>virgin island (Fernandina) in the world, as well as the last significant
>population of Hammerhead sharks.
>
>In recent months, Conservation Network International (CNI) has confirmed:
>
> -$1billion Sucres (~$40 million US) were transferred thru the two
> Galapagos banks. One fisherman cashed a US$ 50,000 check.
> -Uncontrolled fishing boats are harvesting everything marketable from
> the sea floor. The fisherman continue to cut mangroves for fuel to
> boil their catch and there are floating brothels for entertainment.
> -Fishing boats carrying chickens, dogs, and inevitably rats and mice are
> pillaging the coasts of western Isabela and Fernandina Islands.
> -An "experimental" sea cucumber fishery and a shark fishing industry
> were endorsed by the government on June 23, 1994. A limit of 550,000
> sea cucumbers was set by the authorities. No means of regulation was
> established and an estimated 6 - 10 million were taken before the
> government finally tried to stop the "experiment".
> -The reason for the violence and hostage situation is that the
> fisherman are demanding the reopening of the sea cucumber fishery.
>
>The crisis has now entered a dramatic level of exploitation while the
>current border dispute between Peru and Ecuador is attracting attention
>away from the crisis in the Galapagos.
>
>Due to the political and socio-economic pressure, The Darwin Foundation
>has been unable to forcefully denounce and combat the environmental
>travesty that has developed. Conservation Network International, Inc. was
>formed as a non-profit organization in July, 1994, to oppose a series of
>commercial fisheries in the Galapagos.
>
>WHAT YOU CAN DO:
>
>1. Write a letter to the President of Ecuador
>
>Pres. Sixto Duran Ballen
>Garcia Moreno 1043
>Quito, Ecuador
>
> With copies to:
>
>Lic. Armando Espinel
>Ministerior de Informacion y Tourismo
>Quito, Ecuador
>
>Ab. Gustavo Gonzales
>Subsecretario de Pesca
>Guayaquil, Ecuador
>
>Lic. Jorge Barba
>Director INEFAN
>Quito, Ecuador
>
>Sr. Director
>Diario EL COMERCIO
>Quito, Ecuador
>
>Sr. Director
>Diario EL UNIVERSO
>Guayaquil, Ecuador
>
>Lic. Arturo Izurieta Valery
>Intendente del Servicio Parque Nacional Galapagos
>Puerto Ayora
>Islas Galapagos
>Ecuador
>
>2. Call your travel agent and any journalists who might be interested in
>this issue and feel free to refer them to Conservation Network
>International.
>
>3. Support the efforts of Conservation Network International to expand
>our publicity campaign and stop the exportation of shark fins and sea
>cucumbers from the Galapagos.
>
>Conservation Network International will continue to support the local
>Galapagos naturalists who are now risking their lives to stop the
>exploitation. CNI has no employees and all contributions are invested
>directly for the cause. Our intentions are to stop the exploitation of
>all marine resources from the Galapagos and do what ever is necessary to
>insure the long term preservation of this world heritage site and the
>last significant population of Hammerhead sharks.
>
>Conservation Network International, Inc.
>Jack Grove, President
>146 N. Sunrise Drive
>Tavernier, Florida 33070
>Tel/Fax 305-852-6004
>
>PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED!!
>
>

------------------------End of Forwarded Message--------------------------