Send a letter to Namibia’s government officials asking them to end the Cape fur seal massacre.
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Copy and paste the text below in the Message box, or edit it in the box to make it your own.
Members of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, which oversees and regulates the slaughter of Cape fur seals:
Head Office:
Mailing Address:
Private Bag 13355
Windhoek, NAMIBIA
Street Address:
Brendan Simbwaye Square, Block C
Corner of Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda and Goethe Street
Phone +264 61 205 3084
Hon. Minister Derek Klazen
Phone: +264 61 205 3101, Fax: +264 61 233 286
Hon. Sylvia Makgone, Deputy Minister
Phone: +264 61 205 3005, Fax: +264 61 240 547
Public Relations
Phone: +264 61 205 3084. Fax: +264 61 224 566
Other Namibian Officials
Pres. Hage Geingob, No. 1 Engelberg Street Auasblick, Windhoek, +264 61 270 7111, info@op.gov.na, https://www.facebook.com/DrHageGeingob/, @DrHageGeingob
Hon. Lucia Iipumbu, MP, Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development
Phone: +264 61 2837334
Fax: +264 61 220148
Lucia.Iipumbu@mitsmed.gov.na
Pohamba Shifeta, Minister of Environment and Tourism, P/Bag 13306, Windhoek, +264-61 2842111
Directorate of Wildlife and National Parks +264 61 284 2518
Hon. Prime Minister Kuugongelwa-Amadhila Saara
Phone: +264-61-287 2002
Fax: +264-61-24 9546
Mr. I-Ben Nashandi, Executive Director at Office of the Prime Minister
Phone: +264-61-287 2004
Fax: +264-61-23 4296
I am shocked that the Namibian government allows and supports the brutal, senseless slaughter of Cape fur seal pups and bulls. The pups are so young, they are still nursing. They are separated from their mothers and killed in front of each other and near their mothers. This cruelty is completely unacceptable. I have seen the sickening images and videos of this horrifying massacre and have forwarded this information to everyone I know.
Cape fur seals have suffered several mass die-offs in this century – in part due to Namibia’s reckless over-fishing. Namibia needs to realize that the oceans are in peril and fishermen around the world are having a harder time catching fish not because of these seals, whose populations are quite stable, but largely because of over-fishing, illegal fishing (even beyond the excessive quotas), and destructive fishing practices that damage fish habitat and breeding grounds and create huge amounts of by-catch.
These problems must be addressed by Namibia if Namibia wants to protect fisheries. Killing seals will not yield the desired results. Rather than blaming seals, I urge you to listen to scientists, who will tell you that culling Cape fur seals could even cause fish stocks to decline. That may seem counter-intuitive, but that is because you have the mistaken idea that a complex ecosystem like the Benguela Upwelling can be understood as one species consuming another. In your oversimplified view, one glaring issue that you neglect to realize is that fish prey upon each other, too. Consider that South Africa stopped killing seals years ago. Its fisheries have not suffered due to the continued presence of Cape fur seals. Namibia must now follow suit and ban this violent practice.
As a jobs program, the Cape fur seal slaughter is a failure. Only a small number of poorly paid jobs has been created. There are much better ways to employ Namibians, including developing a seal tourism industry.
As a caring person, I will boycott tourism in Namibia and products from Namibia, especially Namibia’s hake, until the slaughter is banned. I will also tell everyone I know to do the same.