Hunter Hurley

Professor Hochberg
BCMU 301
3/1/2017

Repeal The Feel Good Legislation

Every 15 minutes, poachers kill another elephant for its ivory

sold on the black market (1). Something has to be done to combat this

issue, which is rampantly wiping out species and driving them to

extinction. Washington voters with the intent to do just this passed

Initiative 1401; however, this new bill spends ineffectively. Poached

animals cant be resurrected, but wild animals can be protected. To

effectively combat animal trafficking, spending should not be focused

on poached animals remains, bur rather living animals next in line for

sale on the black market.

Problems: Focus on Wrong People, Focus on Wrong Market,

Local Poaching
Figure 1. Time is
It is abundantly clear that if action is not Ticking.

taken to decrease poaching, the animals I read about in biology

textbooks, my children will read about in history textbooks. Select

species are on the brink of extinction, and it is our duty to preserve

their bloodlines (see figure 1). In order to do this, the number of

animals poached must be significantly decreasedsomething Initiative

1401 fails to address.

1 (http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/should-voters-approve-i-1401-join-the- Scientists believe African
global-fight-against-illegal-endangered-animal-trade) elephants will be extinct by
2 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/30/ivory-trade-elephants- 2020 if poaching continues
extinct_n_5631782.html) (2).
Figure 1 (http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/should-voters-approve-i-1401- (Seattle Times, 2016)
poaching-in-africa-cannot-be-stopped-by-a-state-initiative)

Deputy Chief Mike Cenci of the Washington

Department of Fish and Wildlife refers to Initiative

1401 as, feel good legislation (Cenci, Personal

Interview). While pretty on paper, the legislation

does nothing to actually decrease poaching. Policing the sale of items

containing 15% or more ivory, such as jewelry and pianos, pains

people in possession of the items but does not deter new products

being brought to the black market. Those in possession of items, many

who acquired them legally at the time, have their belongings stripped

of economic value. Furthermore, Deputy Cenci discussed the problem

of determining whether or not an item can be legally sold or

possessed, as there is no true baseline for what papers should be

accepted. Cenci sees the passing of the initiative, which costs

taxpayers roughly $815,000 annually (3), as a good message with no

true backbone. He explains, Sending my folks to antique stores

doesnt do any damn good. Todd Myers of the Washington Policy

Center for the Environment commented on funding the initiative

through fines saying, What you may be doing (with additional

penalties) if demand doesnt go away is increasing the price (3). The

department is already stretched thin, and to spend time determining

whether or not an item is over 100 years old or less than 15% in

volume is not in the best interest of combatting animal trafficking; the

goal of the initiative.

 While Seattle may be a large port city, it pales in comparison to

black markets in China, Thailand, and Vietnam. This, cited in a

testimony to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department, comes from Dr.
Figure 2. Confiscated
Daniel Stilesyes, the Ph.D. anthropologist Ivory.
once hired by Paul Allens brainchild Vulcan.

3 (http://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/i-1401-will-go-after-antique-owners-not-ivory-traffickers)

Cenci, Personal Interview

Allen, who essentially paid the initiative into

play by way of over $2 million in personal Pictured above is ivory captured

on the black market in Thailand.
donations, employed Stiles to analyze ivory in The demand for illegal ivory in the
Far East greatly surpasses that of
the black market (3). Stiles findings included the US market.
(The Spokesmean-Review, 2015)
virtually no market for smuggled ivory in America, and suggested

chasing local antique collectors would take away valuable resources

that could be put towards the real issue of poachers in Africa and the

Far East (see figure 2). Upon further investigation of the ivory market

through Seattles ports, a reporter representing Northwest Public Radio

found the majority of the 50 seizures were tourists who had a piece of

ivory from abroad, and didnt know their possession of the item was

illegal (3). The man originally hired by Paul Allen to find a solution,

conducted his research, and testified that policy such as Allens 1401

would be ineffective.

Initiative 1401 places focus on a problem an ocean away, while

taking focus off of Washington states most prominent issues. Deputy

Cenci feels strongly about this point, and insists he doesnt want to

take away (his) time from focusing on local poaching because that is a

real problem here. 80% of the Russian king crab comes through the

state of Washington unregulated and undocumented. This directly

affects Alaskan king crabs market value, and Cenci believes it has cost

them hundreds of millions of dollars in losses due to tax and tariff

evasion. While international poaching and foul play is certainly a

concern, Cenci feels strongly that Our state is more relevant for being

a safe haven to other critters. Initiative 1401 attempts to combat

3 (http://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/i-1401-will-go-after-antique-owners-not-ivory-traffickers)

Figure 2 (http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/outdoors/2015/oct/19/i-1401-nice-sentiment-bad-laws)

Cenci, Personal Interview

problems half way around the globe, yet neglects poaching right at our

feet.

Possible Solutions: Task forces in Africa and Asia, Increased

Communication

If you want to save an elephant, then go where the elephants

are; this is the advice Deputy Cenci repeated countless times. The

solution is not to eliminate the worth of items already circulating above

ground in the market, but rather cut off the supply to the underground

market. What is the first step in accomplishing this from the eyes of

Cenci? Put funding at the source locations rather than on enforcement

of the market. One animal listed under Initiative 1401 is the pangolin,

which is the most trafficked species in the world (4). Scientists

estimate a million pangolins have been poached over the last decade

for their keratin scales (see figure 3). However, Deputy Cenci has never

seen a pangolin in his lifehow does that make sense? Someone who

is trafficking animals is not going to put them in the storefront, as the

transactions are underground, and off the books. Once the animals are

on the black market, they are virtually untraceable; this is why

allocating funds to catch poachers rather

Figure 3. The #1 Trafficked
than catch their products is the better Species

solution.

While eliminating poaching all

together is the solution in a perfect

world, it is unreasonable due to the black

markets demand. Unfortunately, not

only are poachers profiting, they are The Pangolins scales are believed
to have great medicinal value, and
often funneling their profits directly to have high demand on the black
market. Although fairly unknown,
some of the most notorious terrorist they are the most hunted species
in the world.
groups in the world. Joseph Konys Lords Resistance Army was funded

through trafficking of multiple items, including endangered species (5).

If you cant stop poachers out in the field, the next best thing is

catching them before items disappear into the market. Deputy Cenci

cites increased communication internationally as a way to combat

trafficking. He calls for funding to be directed towards more people to

share more intelligence rather than more initiatives. I would love if I

could talk with China. The federal government is supposed to do that

but they dont occupy the niche very well. The federal government

has a full plate, and picking up the phone to talk about an individual

4 (http://www.latimes.com/world/global-development/la-fg-global-pangolins-vanishing-snap-story.html)

5 (http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/should-voters-approve-i-1401-join-the-global-fight-against-illegal-endangered-

animal-trade)

Figure 3 (https://africageographic.com/blog/pangolins-pangolin-men)

Cenci, Personal Interview

trafficking ivory half way around the world is not prioritized. Cenci

shared an example of a time his department watched a Taiwanese

vessel disguised with a Chinese flag drag a mile of drift net 220 miles

through illegal waters. Because the Washington department did not

have the correct contact information or a treaty in place, they were

legally bound from boarding the vessel and addressing the problem.

The black market is intertwined between continents, yet as of now, the

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife does not have adequate

funding to connect with others combatting trafficking on a global scale.

A part of the solution to addressing trafficking is allocating funds to

connect globally rather than regulate locally.

Both sides recognize that resources are required to put an end to

animal trafficking, however those in favor of Initiative 1401 are

misunderstood on the roots of the problem. Yes, if funds were infinite,

policing sales within the state would be beneficialminimally.

However, the nearly one million dollars spent annually on such

enforcement would be better served trying to hunt the hunters, and

increase connections with departments internationally. Initiative 1401

has the right idea in allocating funding to reduce trafficking, however it

is misspending money and chasing the tail of the snake rather than the

5 (http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/should-voters-approve-i-1401-join-the-global-fight-against-illegal-endangered-

animal-trade)

Cenci, Personal Interview

head of it.

Conclusion

If Initiative 1401 is the solution we as a state choose to support,

it is only a matter of time until poachers wipe the animals, supposedly

protected by the policy, off the face of the Earth. It is imperative that

Washingtons department sets the precedent for how to combat animal

trafficking through repealing Initiative 1401 and reallocating funds to

efforts at the source. Washington is on the right track by taking action

to decrease trafficking, however the resources available must be

rerouted for more impactful use. We must eliminate the black market,

or the animals being sold on the black market will be eliminated. To

save the endangered species, efforts must be placed on protecting

them in their natural habitats, not regulating the sales of their poached

remains.