Solomon Islands PM smacks down secret reinstatement of live dolphin exports

The Solomon Islands has reinstated a ban on dolphin exports - two days after it was quietly lifted.

Amid the drama in parliament as MPs selected a new prime minister, care-taker Fisheries Minister Bradley Tovosia repealed the ban on his way out the door.

The ban had encompassed live dolphin exports - mostly for zoos and aquariums - but also covered the export of dolphin meat. Exporters faced a SBD$100,000 fine (approximately US$12,400) and up to six months imprisonment.

Incoming Prime Minister Matthew Wale, shortly before announcing his new Cabinet, announced that the ban would be reinstated, effective Saturday, 16 May.

"Solomon Islands will not compromise its fisheries standards or risk its economic lifeline for short-term decisions." Wale said in a statement.

He said the late-hour reinstatement posed a risk to the Solomons' tuna industry, in terms of international reputation.

Veteran journalist and Solomons Business Magazine editor Robert Iroga told RNZ Pacific he suspected Tovosia was "pressured" to repeal the ban, hoping that the government would let it slide - or simply not notice.

"He knew that it was the last days of his government, he wouldn't be coming back, so he made a decision," he said.

"Dolphins are classified as a mammal which is well respected and not be exported to another country ... we were fighting against a lot of different fronts, environmental activists, when the decision was made previously."

Tovosia was replaced with the aptly-named Polycarp Paea in Wale's new cabinet lineup announced over the weekend.

Dolphin business

Tuna buyers worldwide give preference to "dolphin-safe" certifed products, so to compete with global tuna exporters, the Solomons needs to maintain the same ethical guards. If dolphin exports were legal, dolphin bycatch would be incentivised.

Annual tuna catch in the Solomons EEZ is worth around US$300m, with the European Union (EU) its biggest buyer, according to the government. Through its licensing and levy systems, it generates around $37m in revenue.

The EU is party to the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program, which has established a Dolphin Safe Tuna standard that the Solomons would fall short of if dolphin bycatch were to increase significantly.

Iroga said anything that harms the tuna industry in the Solomons would cause untold harm to the country.

"We export a lot of our tuna from the Western Province down to Europe, and one of the areas we must meet is that the fish are caught clean."

"Had it stood, people wouldn't be buying our tuna from Europe... once the money stops coming into the country, it has wider repurcusions than just exporting a few dolphins."

However, dolphins may be in hot demand, according to the NZ-based Orca Research Trust.

"I've been to more than 100 aquariums in 28 different countries around the world ... and in all instances, it's absolutely disgusting what's going on," said principal scientist Ingrid Visser.

"The Solomon Islands is known for its biodiversity, but aquariums are getting so desparate because there are such good protections in many countries that they'll take pretty much anything they can get."

Domestically, dolphin hunting remains a cultural cornerstone, particularly in Malaita. Though dolphin population estimates in the country are lacking, "drive hunting", where dolphins are herded ashore and beached, makes for a lucrative passtime.