The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Captain Paul Watson and his crew have been ordered out of the Galapagos Islands while angry fishermen have been permitted by the Ecuadorian President to occupy Galapagos National Park.
Three hundred residents of Santa Cruz Friday staged a counter protest to fishermen striking against conservation limits on the sea cucumber fishery. The residents marched to the gate of the Galapagos National Park where they were halted by a line of Ecuadorian Police and Marines.
Behind the Marines fishermen yelled and brandished clubs and set automobile tires ablaze, reports Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Captain Paul Watson. The Sea Shepherd is in the Galapagos fulfilling a contract with the Ecuadorian authorities to help patrol Galapagos National Park for poachers.
The residents yelled slogans such as, "We support the National Park," and called for Governor Alexandra Cedenio and Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutiérrez to uphold the law, Watson said.
Tourists staying at the Red Mangrove Hotel and at the Galapagos Hotel were refused entry to their accommodations by the fishermen. Residents of the Charles Darwin Research Center were told they could not return to their homes. When one tourist complained to the police, Watson observed, the officer shrugged his shoulders and said that he could do nothing.
Sea Shepherd cameraman Ross Wursthorne was struck in the groin by a papaya as he attempted to film the fishermen, who stayed in the background as their wives stood on the front lines hurling stones.
After an hour of strikers and counter strikers staring each other down, the police ordered the counter strikers to disperse, saying that there were Marines in the park and they were beginning to move the fishermen out.
An hour later, the fishermen were burning more tires and the police had vanished from the streets. A truckload of beer and supplies entered the park unimpeded by police and the fishermen settled in to celebrate their possession of the park.
Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutiérrez (Photo courtesy Inter-American Development Bank)
The police reported that they had entered the park and that they were in position to disperse the rioting fishermen when they received an order from President Gutiérrez to stand down.
Forty-eight hours after the strike began, wrote Watson in an email to ENS, "We saw fishermen in control of the National Park headquarters on Santa Cruz Island, the Park offices on Isabela and San Cristobal Islands and the tourist center on Espanola. All park employees have been forced out of the parks and the delicate tortoise breeding centers on Isabela and Santa Cruz are threatened by fishermen promising to slaughter the young and old tortoises because they are the symbol for conservation on the islands."
Six members of the Sea Shepherd crew of the conservation vessel "Farley Mowat" remain on Isabela Island, unable to return to the ship because fishermen have closed the harbor and are refusing to allow anyone to embark or disembark.
Watson says he was in the crowd of counter strikers, standing alongside former National Park Director Eliecer Cruz, and members of groups like WildAid and World Wildlife Fund.
"Eliecer was fantastic," said Watson. "He had a bullhorn and he was rallying the people of Galapagos to demand that law and order be restored and that the National Park offices and the tortoises be protected. It was amazing and frustrating to see a line of police blocking citizens from defending the park, yet the same police had stood aside to allow the fishermen to seize the park."
The Sea Shepherd ship "Farley Mowat" was scheduled to depart from the Galapagos Friday for a three week patrol for poachers. The ship could not sail because six Sea Shepherd crew remain on Isabela, and the ship has been unable to refuel due to the chaos caused by the rioting fishermen.
Early Sunday morning, the Sea Shepherd landed a crew of six at the Darwin Research Station behind the lines of the fishermen barricading the Park entrance. Their mission was to check on the welfare of Lonesome George and the hundreds of tortoises in the breeding facility in the Park.
Lonesome George is the last surviving member of his sub-species. He is over 100 years old although his exact age has not been determined.
Lonesome George still survives in Galapagos National Park but is not being fed (Photo courtesy Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)
The four crew plus two members of a documentary team from Canada moved through the park undetected and were able to investigate the tortoises. They found that the tortoises were unharmed but it did not appear that they were being fed.
The crew then decided to walk out of the Park and approached the main entrance. The surprised and clearly angry fishermen threw rocks and attacked Jordan De Vann and Alex Cornelissen from the Netherlands, Graham Cantellow from Britain, Jared Rubin and Edward Curran from the United States and cameraman Paul Kell of Canada.
The Sea Shepherd did not retaliate nor did they say a word although they were repeatedly struck with sticks and stones. Kell filmed the incident.
Ecuadorian Marines at the gate leveled their guns at the fishermen and escorted the crew out of the main gate.
Shortly after returning to the "Farley Mowat," the Port Captain sent a launch to the Sea Shepherd ship to demand that Captain Watson report to the Port office.
He arrived to find Pablo Salas, the chief of marine enforcement for the National Park, along with dozens of naval officers and about 20 armed marines.
De Vann and Cornelissen arrived to support Watson. After several angry exchanges, some of the fishermen came into the Port Captain's office to swear a complaint that the Sea Shepherd crew had assaulted them.
Watson reminded the Port Captain that the entire incident was filmed and demanded to know how fishermen who were occupying government property could march into the military base and complain about anything.
The Marine Captain said that they were thinking of jailing Captain Watson for three days.
Watson laughed, "Really, oh please do. That would be incredible. You would jail me for looking into the welfare of the tortoises and yet you do nothing against an armed gang of thugs in possession of the Park offices. I really do hope you jail me. What a hell of a story that would be."
The Port Captain demanded that the entire crew that entered the park be brought to his office. He informed Captain Watson and his crew that they would not be jailed but would be ordered out of the Galapagos immediately.
"We cannot go without fuel. We have already paid for the fuel, and we cannot and will not leave without it," Watson said.
The Port Captain said that the "Farley Mowat" would have to leave Santa Cruz and could proceed to the fuel station on the island of Baltra and that no crew would be allowed ashore.
Captain Watson agreed. Back on the "Farley Mowat," the crew could see the National Park offices where the fishermen were in complete control.
Sea Shepherd ship the "Farley Mowat" (Photo courtesy Sea Shepherd)
"The crew of the Farley Mowat are being expelled from the Galapagos for investigating the conditions of the tortoises, yet the military and the police do absolutely nothing to stop the on-going siege of the park by a violent mob. The authorities also point blank refused to address the complaint of our crew backed-up by video footage of the fishermen assaulting them," Watson wrote.
"Tourists should take note that according to the Ecuadorian military, only Ecuadorians have rights in the Galapagos and assaults against foreigners will not be investigated, let alone punished," he wrote.
At the gates of the park the soldiers and the fishermen were sharing the same barbeque and drinking beer, talking and laughing together.
"It represents all that is wrong with the Galapagos. Greedy fishermen and corrupt military are bringing this unique ecosystem down. The tourist industry and conservation interests appear not to be represented. The tourist industry appears to be afraid to rock the boat and is saying very little despite dozens of cancellations of bookings for tours," Watson wrote.
"We are seeing the beginning of the end for this incredible natural ecological treasure. The fishermen will most likely win their impossible demands. Resignations will be asked for from park officials. Naval personnel and politicians will pocket their bribes, and the natural indigenous species of these enchanted islands will continue to diminish in numbers and along with them, the majority of people whose livelihood depends on tourism and conservation will suffer," he wrote.
"All this so Asian weddings can serve sharkfin soup and Asian gourmets can dine on the increasingly rare sea-cucumber. For every dollar made from this illegal and immoral trade, a hundred dollars will be lost for the tourism industry," wrote Watson.
This is not the first time the Galapagos fishermen have rioted. In 2000, hundreds of Galapagos Islands fishermen, angered by a 50 ton limit on lobster harvests, laid siege to the offices of the Charles Darwin Research Station in Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristobal islands twice during the year.
In April 2002, the fishing sector of Santa Cruz went on strike to express disapproval of the restrictions on the sea cucumber fishery.
"The majority of people in these islands are employed by the National Park or by the tourist industry," reports Watson. "There are only 1,200 fishermen in a population of 25,000 yet this minority has intimidated the police, the military, the government and the rest of the population."
