A remote village in the Solomon Islands has slaughtered hundreds of dolphins in retaliation for a breached agreement for financial support from a conservation group.
The local Solomon Star newspaper reported the village of Fanalei in South Malaita, caught and killed at least 700 of the animals on Monday in protest over non-payment of funds promised by the Earth Island Institute (EII) to stop their traditional hunting practice.
The chairman of Fanalei Honiara-based association, Atkin Fakaia, has defended the slaughter, saying the villagers resumed their normal dolphin hunt to earn an income.
"The village says the slaughter was held because the conservation group has breached a memorandum of understanding which facilitated it providing money for project development," Fakaia said.
The mass capture and slaughter was made after villagers refused to renew the two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sealed with EII due to the breach, which expired last April.
“In the MOU, EII promised to give us $2.4 million, but they only gave us $700,000,” Fakaia said.
But the Earth Island Institute's director Lawrence Makili disputes the claim, saying the money has been provided to village representatives, who cannot account for more than $400,000 given to them at the end of 2011.
"The communities used that for an excuse for them to do what they were doing," Makili said.
Last year, the Solomon Islands banned the live export of dolphins.
Get more interesting environment and science and space news. Also, follow along with the thousands of others for periodic weather updates, news and notes on Twitter.
Comments