15/02/2005 - On the eve
of the publication of the independent review,
WWF is calling on Royal Dutch Shell and Japan's
Mitsui and Mitsubishi to act immediately on
any scientific findings concerning development
activities in the sole feeding grounds of
the critically endangered western gray whale.
The three multi-nationals make up a consortium
of shareholders in the Sakhalin Energy Investment
Company Limited (SEIC), developing oil and
gas reserves in the Sea of Okhotsk off the
northeast coast of Sakhalin Island in the
Russian Far East — the summer feeding grounds
of gray whales and the only known place where
the female wean and feed their calves.
WWF expects the independent review panel,
set up under the auspices of World Conservation
Union (IUCN), will confirm that the development
is a threat to the survival of the gray whale.
”Unless this report clearly states that operations
are compatible with whale survival, project
backers must be prepared to radically rethink
the project or even suspend operations immediately,”
said WWF Chief Operating Officer Paul Steele.
“Shell must listen to the experts they asked
to weigh in. In the past, they have indicated
they would base their decisions on scientific
guidance – we now expect them to act on the
recommendations of the whale scientists."
The whales have already suffered during the
first phase of the Sakhalin Energy project,
which went into production five years ago.
Scared away from their feeding grounds, the
whales became emaciated and fewer calves were
born.
WWF is concerned that the next phase, which
would run an undersea pipeline directly through
their feeding grounds and place a platform
even closer to them, is a major threat to
the whale’s survival.
The western Pacific stock of gray whales
(Eschrichtius robustus) is critically in danger
of extinction, with only about 100 animals
remaining; 23 which are reproductive females.
A position backed by the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) in 2003 calls for urgent
measures to be taken to protect the whales.
WWF, together with more than 50 other NGO’s,
have previously expressed serious concerns
about the project beyond the threat to the
gray whale. These issues include concerns
over plans to construct an onshore pipeline
in an active seismic area and the disruption
of important salmon spawning sites.
WWF is also urging a bank consortium led
by the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) not to grant a loan for
the project unless environmental and local
community concerns are properly addressed.
“The Sakhalin oil and gas development is
not only causing environmental problems,”
said Igor Chestin, Director of WWF-Russia.
“Local people, including indigenous populations,
who had hoped for economic benefits feel betrayed
as their means for traditional livelihood
are being threatened by the massive project
construction taking place. Shell and its operating
company Sakhalin Energy have simply ignored
the interests of local peoples."
Chestin added that fishermen are already
suffering from depletion of stocks, and local
land owners have not received any compensation
for loss of land.
“Shell, Mitsui, and Mitsubishi and those
financial agencies considering funding the
project must pay attention to these scientific
findings, or the whales and people of Sakhalin
will suffer irreversible consequences,"
said Paul Steele. "Unless there is an
unquestionable green light, Shell needs to
seriously reconsider the project."
NOTES:
• The IUCN report is due to be posted on
its website www.iucn.org at 1300 Swiss time
on February 16th, 2005.
• The bank consortium, which is considering
giving Sakhalin Energy a loan to continue
the project, includes the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, United States
Export Import Bank, and Japanese Bank for
International Cooperation and ECGB.
• Phase I of the development was oil exploration
only, which went into production in 1999.
Phase II includes year-round oil and gas production,
with two additional offshore platforms, offshore
and onshore pipelines, onshore processing,
and exporting facilities. This phase is due
to go into production in 2007.
• Of the original three gray whale populations,
one is already extinct in the North Atlantic
Ocean; one has recovered in the Eastern North
Pacific Ocean, while the western gray whale
is on the IUCN red list as critically endangered,
with only 100 thought to be left.
• The International Whaling Commission (IWC)
has called upon range states and others to
“actively pursue all practicable actions to
eliminate anthropogenic mortality in the western
Pacific gray whale stock and to minimize anthropogenic
disturbances in the migration corridor and
on their breeding and feeding grounds.”
• The coalition of NGOs lobbing for the change
in the project includes: WWF, Sakhalin Environment
Watch, IFAW, Greenpeace, Pacific Environmental
Resource Centre, Bankwatch, Friends of the
Earth, Wild Salmon Centre, and others.
