By Admin. Updated 7:17 p.m., Tuesday, February 11, 2025, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Environment Fund (SVGEF) says that whalers in Barrouallie have have decided to stop the hunt of the Killer Whale.
In an article circulated to the media, the SVGEF said the decision comes after moves to promote alternative livelihoods, in this case the catching of tuna.
The catching of Orcas (killer whales) has been a contentious issue in some circles in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and abroad. Entities have been trying to promote alternative livelihoods.
“For the past ten years the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Environment Fund has been
calling for a gradual shift towards whale watching, and working hard in the whaling
community of Barrouallie to create alternative livelihoods towards this goal,” the SVGEF said.
“It was with great humility that in December 2024 they received a letter from the Chief Whaler of Barrouallie, Mr Samuel Hazelwood stating that, sensitive to the growing concern over the past 10 plus years to the killing of the Orcas (also known as Killer Whales), the whalers of Barrouallie have decided to stop the hunt of the Killer Whale,” the SVGEF added.
“They presented a request to the SVGEF to fund two Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) which would facilitate the catching of tuna, in exchange for them giving up the Killer Whale hunt. A meeting was held at the Fisheries Division, facilitated by the Chief Fisheries Officer, to discuss the stopping of the hunt,” the SVGEF added.
Here is the rest of the article.
On January 16 th 2025 at that meeting an agreement was signed between the four
whalers of Barrouallie and Louise Mitchell, on behalf of the SVGEF, to end the Killer Whale
hunt in exchange for the investment in two FADs. The FADs are being built in Barrouallie by
Hazelwood, following international best practices (no nets) as well as guidance from our
partners at Blue Marine Foundation, and installed off the leeward coast of St. Vincent.
The whalers have honoured the agreement, even though no legislation has yet been passed in Parliament. Since the agreement Orca’s have made safe passage in the waters of St.Vincent
and the Grenadines noted by the whalers having reported seeing pods of Orcas in recent weeks who were spared due to this agreement.
Over the years, the SVGEF, and before it, the SVG National Trust, was involved in many
initiatives to expose whalers and persons from whaling communities to the lucrative business of whale watching worldwide. Investments were made in sending persons from whaling communities to view whale and dolphin watching in Boston, USA, Patagonia, Argentina, and even Australia. The SVGEF has had support over the years from Carolina Cassani of Fundacion Cethus, an NGO out of Argentina, which has conducted training sessions over the years on sustainable whale watching and the importance of it being conducted in a regulated manner that does not impact on the whale habitats and socialization patterns. The SVGEF also supported the whale watching business “Alex Tours”, run by Kirk Grant of Bottle and Glass, Barrouallie.
Commenting on the decision of the Barrouallie whalers, Louise Mitchell commented “I want
to congratulate the whalers of Barrouallie, in particular Mr Samuel Hazelwood for being out
front on this initiative. It is not easy to spearhead change, but there are times when change
is the right thing to do, for your community, for your country and for the preservation of the
planet. Whales are known to be the greatest sequesters of carbon and their conservation
helps to stop the warming of the planet, which is putting our very existence on earth at
risk.”
Mr Hazelwood shared his view stating “We will desist from catching the killer whales. We
realise this is an issue, Caribbean wide and even worldwide although we make a good bit of
money from the killer whales but there are times when we do have to come to a compromise
so that other people can feel a bit at ease in relation to how we are fishing”
The SVGEF will continue to be at the forefront of discussion in conservation of cetaceans as
we develop our relationship with the whaling and fisherfolk communities at large among
our various projects. But now one thing is for certain, that through this agreement, the
SVGEF and the Whalers of Barrouallie can say that Orcas are safe in Vincentian waters.
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