Galapagos - Ecuadorean Presidential Decree

[tiggerbella]

To ChrisM and Chadbeck,

As to the lack of news regarding this incident: Good point about the small percentage of divers in the world and the smaller number that would be affected by this.

As to Mossman: I saw a ton of whale sharks when I was in the Seychelles. As for Burma, that was very unfortunate that you had to cancel your trip due to a natural disaster. And I can say that I'd rather have my trip cancelled due to the GNP reason than because I had been kidnapped or attacked.

Back to the real reason that I actually just went ahead and vented my thoughts: ARe Deep Bluers the only ones that are finding anything out, or are they just the ones that are mostly on this board??? Other than Aggressors and Peter Hughes People.

I am very happy with the choice of Deep Blue, read great reviews. That is not the issue and I do not want to make it one.

Just curious that's all. I see an anomaly and must ask the question why?

 

[ChrisM]

Actually, it's a good question. I know PH put out its press release (I wish Aggressor would do the same, I am only getting info from my agent, which I think is probably pretty accurate, he's got a company down there), but Ken Weimhoff seems to be pretty communicative, which is a good thing.

Maybe DB, PH, and Agg are the most popular boats? I dunno. I did read on another board that a Lammer Law customer emailed their agent and was told that the trip was not canceled (doesn't mean anything re: permits, etc).

Hopefully, Ken's latest info is good (on the other hand I have heard that the President was out of the country until the 26th) and that all trips are put back in business.

I think Ecuador got scared after the whole UNESCO world heritage news recently and knee jerked itself into a reaction.

 

[Mossman]

Divers make up a very very small percentage of visitors to the Galapagos. Other than divers, no one really cares about this. And even among divers, it's a small percentage that get to go to the Galapagos.

Dive trips get cancelled for all sorts of reasons. This one is political. It might be a coup in Fiji next time, or a U.S. intervention in Grenada or Panama or Cayman Brac.

Personally (and not a swipe at Mossman), there are much more important reasons not to visit a country, such as the repressive military regime in Burma.

Yep. Although in my defense I assert that the majority of dive dollars on that trip, save for the Burmese visa expense, were mainly spent in Thailand, a much more progressive country that also recently underwent a military coup.

The last place I saw a whale shark was in Georgia (the Aquarium), which is currently weighing whether to keep a 10-year prison sentence in place for a 17-year-old who had oral sex with a 15-year-old. Talk about repressive. In progressive Thailand, as long as the 17-year-old paid sufficient baht, it would be a simple business transaction.

 

[ChrisM]

The last place I saw a whale shark was in Georgia (the Aquarium), which is currently weighing whether to keep a 10-year prison sentence in place for a 17-year-old who had oral sex with a 15-year-old. Talk about repressive. In progressive Thailand, as long as the 17-year-old paid sufficient baht, it would be a simple business transaction.

LOL, well played, and point taken

 

[chadbeck]

Deep blue was not the only ones effect by this. On the wetpixel board there were people booked on other boats. It just seems most of us on here are booked on deep blue currently. As for the ph and aggressor during this time they were not affected so they have no need to really to say anything. I am guessing ph put out a notice because of the calls they were recieving about people worried about their trip? As for the info we are getting it is coming from ken through email. This is not a statement he has put on a website or anywere else. Hopefully this helped anwser your question.
-Chad

 

[Doc]

The last place I saw a whale shark was in Georgia (the Aquarium), which is currently weighing whether to keep a 10-year prison sentence in place for a 17-year-old who had oral sex with a 15-year-old.

Greg- How much does it cost to do that kind of thing with a Whale Shark? I'm confused.

 

[Downsouth]

Hey guys, not only Deep Blue here! I am booked for Nemo (Latin Tours), and they are awesome. Last year trip was absolutely fantastic, their 100% cool.

As of yesterday they were grounded and keeping me updated but, as of now, nothing too promissing.


27 days and counting (runing out of nails now!)

 

[NTSilver]

Explorer Ventures is not affected. I confirmed that with a phone call last week. We are scheduled for June 08.

 

[cowjazz]

I have been informed by Ecuador that the awareness is now all the way upto the presidency. The Minister of Tourism - who has been pushing for
a moratorium on the ban on diving has finally gotten the Minister of
the Environment who is in charge of all national parks to agree to
this. They have produced a document that will be going to the
president of Ecuador tomorrow. If he signs it, it will be passed into
law and ALL dive operators that have dive trips scheduled will be
allowed to resume their operations immediately.

Sure is taking a long time to get a signature from El Presidente...

 

[baitballer]

Yesterday, Friday we all sat with baited breath waiting to hear if the President had sgned the bit of paper so all of our holidays could go ahead, Judging by the fact that no one heard anything we assume it was not. He did however find time to sign the following bit of paper;

"Ecuador's president overturned a ban on the sale of shark fins, which are popular in Asia, but stipulated they can only be sold if the sharks are caught by fishermen accidentally.

In a presidential decree Friday, Rafael Correa said the legalization of the sale of shark fins would help generate income for fishermen and added that shark fishing would remain illegal.

However, he did not say how authorities would determine if the shark had been caught accidentally or on purpose.

The 2004 ban had the "good intention of protecting sharks, but with absurd methods," a presidential statement said.

During the ban, the sale of shark fins was punishable by up to two years in prison.

Critics said the new measure will lead to increase shark catches.

Former Environment Minister Edgar Isch called it "a way to more easily evade any type of control" aimed at preserving species."

So......I was due to go in a few weeks looks like if we don't all go within a few weeks there maybe no sharks to look at anyway! They will all be 'accidently' caught as bycatch on longlines.