International court rules Japanese whaling industry is illegal

March 2014: The Japanese whaling industry in the Antarctic is illegal under international law says the International Court of Justice and should be banned.

Their verdict follows Australia’s decision, in the summer of 2013, to take Japan to the ICJ, the principal judicial arm of the United Nations, over its whaling industry, which Japan claims is for scientific research.

Japan currently catches around 1,000 whales a year, with more than 10,000 killed since 1988, as part of its scientific programme. The country says the programme is designed to investigate the feasibility of resuming commercial whaling, while Australia argued that Japan’s scientific whaling program was commercial whaling in disguise.

The World Court found Japan’s programme failed to meet the conditions for scientific whaling under regulations set by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the body charged with the conservation of whales and the regulation of whaling.

It concluded “that the special permits granted by Japan for the killing, taking and treating of whales in connection with JARPA II are not 'for purposes of scientific research.'"

"Japan shall revoke any existent authorisation, permit or licence granted in relation to Jarpa II [research programme] and refrain from granting any further permits in pursuance to the programme," the International Court of Justice's Judge Peter Tomk.

“We welcome the court’s findings,” said Patrick Ramage, IFAW’s Global Whale Programme Director, who was in court to witness the judgment being delivered. “IFAW had long pushed for whales to have their day in court, and we are very pleased that justice has been served. 

“The government of Japan has a strong record of genuinely respecting international institutions and we fully expect Japan will abide by the Court’s ruling. We respectfully urge Japan, Iceland and Norway, the last three countries still killing whales for commercial purposes, to accept that whaling has no place in the 21st Century and to act in compliance with the judicial precedent set by the court today. “

Japan has announced that it will abide by its decision.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/japan-whaling-decision.html

Men charged over hare coursing in North Lincolnshire

Two men have been charged with hunting offences after reports of illegal hare coursing on farmland.

The men, aged 48 and 45 and from Doncaster, were arrested in Sandtoft, North Lincolnshire, at about 12:00 GMT on Sunday

They have been charged with hunting wild mammals with dogs.

Police said they had been released on bail and were due to appear at North Lincolnshire Magistrates' Court in February.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-21123636

Shark fin off the menu in Illinois; ban kicks in Jan. 1

You may find this hard to swallow: Shark fin soup is off the menu in Illinois, beginning Tuesday.

On the other hand, if you’re like Roger Kao you probably won’t care that it’s now illegal to possess or sell the soup ingredient — an Asian delicacy.
“It tastes terrible,” said Kao, manager of Great Beijing Restaurant in Lincolnwood. “I won’t eat it.”

Kao said shark fin soup is a special-request item at Great Beijing, and he was surprised to hear about the ban. He said he planned to track down some information about the new law.

Several Chicago-area Chinese restaurant managers and owners said Monday that they stopped selling shark fin soup a year or more ago, partly in preparation for the expected ban, but mostly because shark fin is so expensive — as high as $300 a pound, one restaurant manager said.

Shark fin bans are already in place in Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California. The Illinois bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), has said she collaborated with the state wing of the national Humane Society, which is helping lead an effort to curtail shark finning, the practice of extracting the animal’s fin and throwing the shark back in the ocean.

Continued: http://www.suntimes.com/news/17320423-418/shark-fin-off-the-menu-in-illinois-ban-kicks-in-jan-1.html

Undercover operation by conservation group reveals whale meat illegally on sale in Denmark Commercial whaling in Greenland -

December 2012. WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation has revealed evidence from a recent undercover operation in Denmark which clearly shows whale meat from Greenland on sale commercially in Denmark. 

A WDC team found Minke whale steaks and blubber openly available to buy at a tourist shop in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, thus putting Denmark in breach of European Union (EU) laws which ban EU Member States from the killing and commercial sale of whales. Ironically, the revelations by WDC also come in the week when Greenland has threatened to impose its own quotas regarding the number of whales that it will hunt for ‘local nutritional needs' in 2013.

Contravenes International Whaling Commission regulations
The sale of these whale products in Denmark also contravenes International Whaling Commission (IWC - the body that regulates whaling) regulations, and also those of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Earlier in the year, a separate undercover investigation by WDC revealed that Greenland (a Danish overseas territory) had been actively undermining the IWC ban on commercial whaling by selling whale meat to tourist visiting Greenland from whales that are allowed to be killed only for the nutritional needs of local aboriginal people.

This latest undercover operation by WDC in Denmark itself clearly shows that this form of illegal commercial whaling has now extended into mainland Europe and makes a mockery of Greenland's requests to hunt more whales to feed native Greenlanders.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/denmark-whales.html

Man Charged After Alligator Eats His Hand

A Florida airboat captain whose hand was bitten off by an alligator is facing charges over his attempt to feed the animal.

Collier County Jail records show that Wallace Weatherholt, 63, has been charged with unlawfully feeding the alligator and has posted a $1,000 (£640) bond.

His next court date is August 22.

Weatherholt was attacked on June 12 as he was giving an Indiana family a tour.

The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of a boat and had his hand at the water's surface when the nine-foot long animal attacked.

Wildlife officers tracked down and killed the alligator.

Weatherholt's hand was found too, but it could not be reattached.

http://news.sky.com/story/966796/man-charged-after-alligator-eats-his-hand

Two convicted for selling ivory in New York

Seized Ivory Valued at More than $2 Million Retail

July 2012. Two ivory dealers have pleaded guilty to selling and offering for sale illegal elephant ivory with a retail value of more than $2 million. Mukesh Gupta, 67, pled guilty to one count of Illegal Commercialization of Wildlife. Gupta's company, Raja Jewels, pled guilty to two counts of Illegal Commercialization of Wildlife. Johnson Jung-Chien Lu, 56, and his company, New York Jewerly Mart Corp., each pled guilty to one count of Illegal Commercialization of Wildlife.

Poachers should not have a market in Manhattan
"Poachers should not have a market in Manhattan," said District Attorney Vance. "It is unacceptable that tusks from elephants wind up being sold as mass-produced jewellery and unremarkable decorative items in this city. Despite efforts to protect populations of endangered and threatened species, poachers are pushing them to the brink of extinction.

This is an international problem that requires local solutions. In order to curb the poaching of elephants in Africa and Asia, we need to curb the demand side of the illegal ivory trade right here at home. Today's cases are a small, but important, step in protecting endangered and threatened elephant species. This investigation is part of an ongoing and focused effort by my Office to combat environmental crimes and clamp down on the illegal ivory underground marketplace, which fuels the international poaching crisis."

Neil Mendelsohn, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region, said: "This case shines a spotlight on the plight of the African elephant and the ongoing efforts within the law enforcement community to control illegal trade of elephant ivory. Today, we mark a success in our cooperative efforts with the State and the Manhattan

District Attorney's Office to stop ivory trafficking in New York City." DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said: "The cooperative efforts of DEC's Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office uncovered the illegal activity of trafficking elephant ivory, and in doing so, prevented more than $2 million worth of illegal ivory from entering the market place in violation of State law. As an endangered species, the existence of elephants is threatened whenever opportunists kill them recklessly for their valuable ivory. DEC will not tolerate the illegal commercialization of wildlife for personal gain."

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/new-york-ivory.html

Opponents: State's crackdown on invasive wild boar is a pig in a poke

By Tina Lam

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

They're huge, they're invasive, they reproduce quickly, they eat everything in sight and now, they're illegal.

Sound like Asian carp?

Nope, these are wild Russian or Eurasian boars and their relatives, illegal to possess in Michigan as of April 1. But the backlash against a new order that designated them an illegal invasive species has gone viral on property-rights and natural-foods websites across the country.

Hunting ranches that stock the boars and some pig farmers who raise specialty breeds that have some boar-like characteristics say the new rule will wipe out their business, and they are fighting back.

Since April 1, when enforcement of the new rule began, the Department of Natural Resources has searched two ranches with warrants and inspected 18 others to make sure all their wild boars were destroyed or sold. Three ranches and a pig farmer have filed separate lawsuits, saying the new law violates their constitutional rights.

Internet sites have painted the DNR as a government agency out of control, bringing in jackbooted, weapons-carrying officers to take private property and turn farmers into felons.

"I am hereby calling for the armed citizens' arrest of DNR officials who must be brought to justice for their crimes against Michigan farmers," said the editor of NaturalNews.com.

"That's very irresponsible rhetoric," said DNR spokesman Ed Golder. Officers do carry guns but despite assertions, the DNR has arrested no one and has shot no pigs, he said.

Continued:  http://www.freep.com/article/20120423/NEWS05/204230345/1118/rss