Whales and Habitat Preservation (MEXWHALE Case)
CASE NUMBER: 198
CASE MNEMONIC: MEXWHALE
CASE NAME: WHALES AND ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION
A. IDENTIFICATION
1. The Issue
Every winter, thousands of California Gray Whales migrate from the
Arctic Ocean to Mexico, where they breed, give birth, and raise
their calves. Many of these whales go to the lagoons of the
Vizcaino Desert Biosphere Reserve in Baja California Sur, an area
protected by the Mexican government because of its environmental
significance. Now the most pristine and important of these lagoons,
Laguna San Ignacio, is threatened by a salt company's proposal to
expand its operations there. This expansion will most likely have
adverse effects on the ecosystem and may disrupt the whales'
migration patterns and behavior. The salt company, Exportadora de
Sal, is 51 percent owned by the Mexican government and 49 percent
owned by the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan. The Mexican Commerce
Department supports the project because it will increase export
revenue. Mexico's environmental protection agency opposes the
project. At issue is whether Mexico will choose pesos or whales
commercial development or environmental protection.
2. Description
For 50 million years, whales have swum in the Earth's
oceans. Whales were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century
when whale products were in high demand. At the turn of the century
there were estimated to be only a few thousand California gray
whales left. Today, whales are protected by a myriad of national
laws and international treaties, and most species have made a
remarkable comeback (see JWHALE case, NWHALE case, and ESKIMO case studies).
The California Gray Whale, or Pacific Gray Whale, is among
the most impressive of these success stories. These animals spend
half of the year in Mexican waters, and the Mexican government has
acted to protect this species of whale by preventing development in
most of the lagoon areas that make up the whales' winter home. The
species has recovered to its pre-whaling population of 15,000 to
20,000. A 1993 count found approximately 21,000 California gray
whales (Seaworld home page). In June 1994, the California gray
whale became the first marine mammal to be removed from the
endangered species list. This represented a great victory for
conservation efforts.
The California Gray Whale is a migratory species. It
spends its summers feeding in the Arctic Ocean near Alaska, in the
Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Every December, the whales head
towards the warmer waters of Mexico, covering a distance of
approximately 11,000 miles (Aridjis, p. M1). They cluster around
three bays in Baja California, where they usually stay until late
April. It is at their winter homes that the whales breed, give
birth, and raise their calves. The three lagoons most favored by
the California Gray Whale are Laguna San Ignacio (the smallest),
Laguna Ojo de Liebre, and Bahia Magdalena. Only one of these
lagoons, Laguna de San Ignacio, still exists in its natural state,
relatively unmarred by human activity.
Laguna San Ignacio is located inside the Vizcaino Desert
Biosphere Reserve. Presidential decrees in 1972 and 1979
established the Vizcaino Desert area as a refuge for whales, and
the actual reserve was created in 1988 by President Miguel de la
Madrid in recognition of the beauty and fragileness of the area's
ecology (Dibble, p. A1). Mexico has 26 such biosphere reserves.
Laguna San Ignacio is popular not only with whales but with an
abundant diversity of birds, fish, and other marine life. Some of
these species are endangered or rare or are unique to the Vizcaino
region. Additionally, the Reserve serves as a research center for
scientists and a tourist attraction. At 6.2 million acres, Vizcaino
is quite large. The Vizcaino Reserve comprises more than the
lagoons, however. The area is famous as well for its remarkable
deserts, mountain ranges, and salt marshes, and is home to
seabirds, turtles, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn antelope, among
others. Some 35,000 Mexicans inhabit the area as well.
There are several reasons why the California Gray Whale
has possibly chosen the lagoons of Baja California Sur in which to
breed, give birth, and raise calves. Foremost among these is this
high salinity of the water in the lagoons. The salt makes the
whales more buoyant, which is helpful to newborn calves learning
how to nurse and swim. The shallowness of the water is also
beneficial for calves. Because the water is warm, the calves lose
less body heat. The seclusion of the lagoons from the dangers of
the open seas, such as high waves created by storms, makes it a
safer place for the newborn calves, as mother and child are less
likely to become separated. All these factors have created the
ideal nursery for baby whales, who have much to learn in the few
months before they join the annual migration back to the Arctic
(Dibble, p. A1).
The lagoons of Baja California Sur are obviously critical
to the survival of this species of whale, since the vast majority
of breeding and calving occurs there. The Mexican government has
done its part to make sure that the whales are protected. When the
whales are in the lagoons (December to April), the local people are
prohibited from fishing, as this might disturb the calves. The only
boats allowed on the water are pangas small tour boats captained by
a licensed panga operator. Even pangas are required to stay from
the part of the lagoon being used as a nursery.
However, the sanctity of Laguna San Ignacio, the most
pristine of the three lagoons, has been threatened by a proposal
from a nearby salt production company called Compania Exportadora
de Sal. Exportadora de Sal wants to expand its operations to Laguna
San Ignacio, and this proposal has sparked a controversy in Mexico
over whether Mexico should be more concerned with economic
development, export revenue, and jobs or with enforcing its
existing environmental laws.
Exportadora de Sal currently operates a saltworks in
nearby Guerrero Negro close to Laguna Ojo de Liebre in the Vizcaino
Desert Biosphere. The company has made Mexico into the world's
second-largest salt exporter and is one of the most profitable
government-owned enterprises in Mexico. The company set up
operations in 1954, the same year that Mexico banned commercial
whaling. Originally in American hands, the company was sold to the
Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan in the 1970s. Mitsubishi later sold part
of the company to the Mexican government. Today Exportadora de Sal
remains a relic of Mexico's days of nationalization. The company is
51 percent owned by the Mexican government and 49 percent owned by
the Mitsubishi Corp. This arrangement allows Japan to import a
natural resource it lacks and allows Mexico to earn foreign
exchange.
Exportadora de Sal's saltworks in Guerrero Negro, on the
lagoon of Ojo de Liebre, uses solar evaporation to manufacture over
six million tons of salt each year and is the largest saltworks in
the world. Nearly all of the salt produced is exported and is used
for chemical and industrial purposes, agriculture, food production,
or for salting roads. Japan buys much of the salt produced.
Now the company has proposed to spend $120 million to
greatly expand its mining operations. Exportadora de Sal wants to
build a salt-production facility on the flats around Laguna San
Ignacio, the most pristine of the lagoons used by the whales. The
proposed expansion would be twice the size of current operations.
and would make Mexico the world's largest salt producer. It would
increase the company's annual production capacity by six to seven
million tons, giving the company a total annual production of 13 to
14 million tons.
Exportadora de Sal submitted its proposal for a new
saltworks to the Mexican government in July 1994. According to the
proposal, the company hopes to remove between 450 and 800 million
tons of water from the lagoon each year (approximately 6,600
gallons of water per second). A mile-long canal leading out the
lagoon would flood 70 square miles (123,000 acres) of the lagoons
dry, sandy shoreline (known as salt flats) with seawater. The shore
area would be covered with clay-lined evaporation beds, and salt
would be collected as the water evaporated. The company also
proposes to build a mile-long pier several mile away from the
lagoon at Bahia de las Ballenas, where the salt would be unloaded
from conveyor belts and loaded onto ships.
Both Laguna San Ignacio and Bahia de las Ballenas are
frequented by gray whales. Scientists admit that the effects that
the new saltworks would have on whales and other wildlife are hard
to determine. However, there is no doubt that pumping water out of
the lagoon will affect salinity and temperature. It is reasonable
to assume that this will therefore affect the entire ecology of the
region, from plankton, to fish, to birds, to land mammals, to
whales. Even one break in the food chain could
have devastating consequences.
Ultimately, it is the Mexican government which will
determine whether or not the saltworks will be built. Debate has
been contentious. Exportadora de Sal is quick to point the proposed
expansion will create between 200 and 500 jobs and will bring in
$100 million in additional export revenue in a country battling to
improve employment and increase exports (Darling, 3/6/95, p. A1).
However, the proposal has also generated much opposition. The Group
of 100 (Grupo de Cien), an environmental group composed primarily
of intellectuals and writers, has succeeded in obtaining much press
coverage about this issue and has put a lot of pressure on the
government.
In February 1995, the National Institute of Ecology,
Mexico's equivalent to the United States'
Environmental Protection Agency, rejected Exportadora de Sal's
proposal to expand its saltworks to Laguna San Ignacio. The agency
concluded that this project would corrupt the environment and
violate the laws regulating the Reserve which require the
government to prevent species loss and preserve natural habitats.
The Environmental Impact Assessment that the company had submitted
to the agency was over 400 pages long and two years in the making,
yet only 23 lines of it were devoted to the gray whales. The
company claimed that since the salt factory was to be built on land
whales would not be affected. They also wrote that their studies
indicated that the ecology of the region would not change for the
worse. Because the company is appealing the decision, the fight
between supporters and opponents of a saltworks at Laguna San
Ignacio continues.
Mexico's Commerce Minister, Herminio Blanco, supports the
expansion proposal and is pitted against the Ecology Minister,
Gabriel Quadri, who is committed to saving Laguna San Ignacio.
Coincidentally, Commerce Minister Blanco is also President of the
Board of Exportadora de Sal. Local politicians in Baja
California Sur oppose the National Ecology Institute's decision and
say Mexico's first priority should be creating jobs and improving
the economy in light of the country's economic crisis. The project
is supported by the governor of Baja California Sur, Guillermo
Mercado Romero, who has dismissed environmental warnings. Another
local politician claimed that the central government was unjustly
interfering in the economic development of the state of Baja
California Sur. This same politician also expressed fear that if
the company cannot expand it will shut down its operations in
Guerrero Negro. The company itself also claims that without new
sources of revenue it will be forced out of business because it is
being underpriced by an Australian company. Some might find it
laughable that a company that is 49 percent Japanese owned
(Mitsubishi is the biggest corporation in the world) would complain
about being undersold.
Exportadora de Sal denies that it has ever engaged in
environmentally damaging behavior and continues to assert that the
expansion will have no adverse environmental impact whatsoever. The
company contends the amount of water that will be taken out is
small in comparison to the amount of water that naturally passes in
and of the lagoon. The company also claims that more whales come to
Laguna Ojo de Liebre than before the saltworks was built there.
Environmentalists say this is false, and that the two lagoons
cannot be compared because Ojo de Liebre is larger and deeper and
the effects of a saltworks would not be felt as much as they would
in Laguna San Ignacio.
The National Ecology Institute continues to stand by its
decision to oppose the saltworks. Its report found that 14
different plant species and 72 different animal species would be
threatened by the project. Additionally, they believe that the
constant traffic of large boats on the lagoon would disrupt the
ability of the whales to breed and raise calves in the lagoon, and
that it would change their behavior and possibly their destination,
driving some of them away.
Environmentalists say the saltworks project will mean the
extinction of the California Gray Whale. The Group of 100, led by
Homer Aridjis, is an environmental group based in Mexico City which
has sought to bring media and public attention to the proposal. The
Group of 100 claims that Exportadora de Sal has a bad record on
environmental issues to begin with and that it once tried to cover
up diesel spills in Guerrero Negro. The Group also asserts that for
the past two years, no gray whales have been sighted in Laguna
Guerrero Negro. The Group is also concerned that increased ship
traffic will result in more oil spills, especially during the
annual hurricane season. Exportadora de Sal ships suffered two oil
spills in the 1980s.
The company may take the government to court over the
denial and seek an amparo, a strong injunction intended to allow
citizens to act in their own economic self-interest without
interference from the government. Traditionally, a business'
request for an amparo to evade an environmental regulation was
rubberstamped. But because Laguna San Ignacio is located inside of
a government-protected biosphere, it is difficult to make
predictions. The Group of 100 has vowed to continue publicizing the
issue and will act as a third party if necessary by taking the case
to international organizations such as the International Whaling
Commission. However, the Mexican government has never before
allowed an environmental group to act as a third party in an
environmental dispute. Typically, only those whose property rights
are being affected may participate.
Both sides have gone to great lengths to win public
approval. The Group of 100 is especially concerned with raising
public conscious about this issue, because public outrage is their
only weapon against corruption and the fear that company officials
will bribe the necessary Mexican government officials. As
a result, the company and the Group of 100 have waged a war on the
pages of Mexican newspapers and the New York Times. Exportadora de
Sal placed full-page advertisements in these venues during the week
of July 1, 1995, defending the saltworks project and the company's
commitment to the environment. They wrote that they planned to
submit a new proposal to the government which takes into account
advice from whale conservation experts. The Group of 100 also has
placed ads in Mexican papers, and as a result Mexican President
Zedillo's office was flooded with angry letters from citizens.
Following a press conference on the issue, a theater group
in Mexico City showed its support for the whales by putting on a
street play in which actors portrayed gray whales being
slaughtered. Other actors in the performance played Japanese
businessmen who expressed approval over the slaughter (Morrison, p.
A3).
Even famed animal activist Brigitte Bardot (see ECFURBAN case)
is involved in this issue. She sent an open letter to Zedillo in which
she said the whole idea of a saltworks at Laguna San Ignacio was
"demented." Other intellectuals involved in the Group of 100's work
to oppose the project are Margaret Atwood, Gunter Grass, Carlos
Fuentes, A.S. Byatt, and Allen Ginsberg.
Also at the center of this debate are the people of Laguna
San Ignacio. Six small villages, with a total population of
approximately 320, dot the shores of Laguna San Ignacio. No village
has electricity or running water, and the residents live in small
wooden shacks. Most locals fish for part of the year and act as
tour guides for the rest of the year. Pismo clams are harvested
year-round, and this is the most important part of the local
economy. Lobsters, scallops, halibut and grouper are also
harvested, although due to poaching, out-of-season fishing, and
quota violations these practices are unsustainable. Locals are
generally distrustful of the federal government.
Most of the local people, but not all, support preserving
the lagoon as it is. They are very concerned that the saltworks
will kill off the fish and that sucking up water out of the lagoon
will affect the larvae of shrimp, scallops, squid and fish.
A fishermen's cooperative based in Laguna de San Ignacio was
recently formed to oppose the saltworks and has sent a letter to
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, a copy of which was also sent to
the Mitsubishi Corp. The fisherman noted that they would rather
protect the environment and their current livelihood, and said that
they were skeptical that this project would have any benefit at all
on the local economy. They do not believe that enough jobs would be
created by the saltworks and they did not feel assured that those
jobs that would be created would even go to locals. They based this
opinion on the situation at Guerrero Negro, where the local
population continues to have a dismal standard of living while the
Japanese employees of the saltworks live in a fenced-off compound.
Of course, there are some local residents who support the saltworks
because they are hopeful that it will
bring jobs.
The tourism industry will also be affected by whatever
decision is made. The popularity of gray whale watching has been
growing. While some Mexicans have found employment as tour guides,
most of the approximately $3 million generated from tourism each
year goes to the government or to foreign-owned companies.
Naturally, these mostly American-owned (California-based) companies
are opposed to the proposal.
Tourists visit the whales by going out onto the lagoon in
a panga, a 20-foot wooden boat sailed by a single panguero.
Occasionally whales will come up to the edge of the boat and allow
themselves to be stroked. These whales are very friendly. People
who have seen, heard, and touched them describe the experience as
mystical.
In conclusion, Exportadora de Sal's proposal for a $120
million expansion of its saltworks has divided the Mexican
government against itself in a test of how serious Mexico is about
protecting its environment. This is a true test of Mexico's
commitment to its environment, especially because according to the
logic used by the National Ecology Institute to reject the salt
company's plans for expansion, the saltworks at Guerrero Negro
should be illegal as well because it too is located within the
Vizcaino Desert Biosphere Reserve.
The fact that no one can predict with any certainty what
effect the saltworks will have on the whales makes the case even
more contentious. One land developer called Mexico "a Third World
country with First World environmental laws," while others fear
that environmental law in Mexico is not strong enough to defeat the
saltworks. Since Mexico is required by NAFTA to enforce and
strengthen its environmental laws, it is possible that this case
may eventually appear before the NAFTA Secretariat of Environment,
Natural Resources and Fisheries. This would be appropriate
since the whales truly belong to all of North America.
Whether the Mexican government will ultimately choose pesos or
whales is unsure. However, the fact that there is a debate over the
issue is a sign of progress. As Elizabeth Palmer of CBC News
pointed out in a CNN interview, "In the past, an area as desolate
and remote as [Laguna San Ignacio] wasn't a political priority in
Mexico and the lucrative industrial proposal would probably have
just gone ahead. But to everyone's surprise, that hasn't happened
this time."
3. Related Cases
JWHALE Case
NWHALE Case
Keyword Clusters
(1): Trade Product =SALT
(2): Bio-geography =OCEAN
(3): Environmental Problem =ECOSYSTEM LOSS
(4): Country =MEXICO
(5): Species =WHALE
4. Draft author: Renee K. Bury
B. LEGAL CLUSTERS
5. Discourse and Status: DISagreement and INPROGress
The salt company, local politicians in Baja California
Sur, and the commercial side of the Mexican government
support the proposal to expand the saltworks to Laguna San Ignacio.
Mexico's National Ecology Institute, environmentalists, and
many Mexican citizens oppose the proposal. The National
Ecology Institute rejected the company's proposal, but the company
is appealing. Currently, the two sides are conducting media
warfare.
6. Forum and Scope: MEXICO and UNILATeral
Whether or not the saltworks will be built will be based
on interpretations of Mexican domestic law. However, there
is a possibility that this case may be heard by the environmental
tribunal set up under NAFTA.
7. Decision Breadth: 3 (USA, CANADA, MEXICO)
Although this is an issue of Mexican domestic law, the
whales spend time in the waters of all three countries and
therefore are a part of each country's ecological diversity.
8. Legal Standing: LAW
At issue is an interpretation of Mexican law. Do the
regulations governing the administration of the Vizcaino
Biosphere prohibit this type of development?
C. GEOGRAPHIC Clusters
9. Geographic Locations
a. Geographic Domain: North America [NAMER]
b. Geographic Site: Western North America [WNAMER]
c. Geographic Impact: Mexico
10. Subnational Factors: NO
Although this is an issue of Mexican federal law, local
politicians in Baja California Sur have hinted that the
government's refusal to approve the proposal would be an
unwarranted infringement of the state's right to economic
development.
11. Type of Habitat: OCEAN
D. TRADE Filters
12. Type of Measure: Regulatory Standard [REGSTD]
The area under consideration for development is located
within a government-protected nature reserve established by
presidential decrees in 1972, 1979, and 1988.
13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: INDirect
The Mexican government is not infringing on Exportadora de
Sal's right to produce salt or its cost of production as it
currently exists; it is trying to determine whether the proposed
saltworks is incompatible with mission of the reserve.
14. Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact
a. Directly Related: NO
b. Indirectly Related: YES Tourism
c. Not Related: NO
d. Process Related: YES Habitat loss
15. Trade Product Identification: SALT
16. Economic Data (Exportadora de Sal)
Industry Output: $77 million in 1993; potential for
another $100 million per year if expansion if allowed.
Employment: potential for another 200 to 500 jobs if expansion is
allowed.
17. Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness: MEDIUM
It is estimated that the expansion of the saltworks would
generate an additional $100 million annually in export revenue for
Mexico. Limiting production of any commodity usually results in
higher prices if the commodity is not elastic.
18. Industry Sector: MINING [M]; OTHER [OTH]
Salt is a natural resource that can be obtained from sea
water through an evaporation process.
19. Exporter and Importer: MEXICO AND USA
Exporter: The company Exportadora de Sal, which is 51%
owned by the Mexican government
and 49% owned by the Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan.
Importer: Primarily Japan, developed nations
E. ENVIRONMENT Clusters
20. Environmental Problem Type: Habitat destruction [HABIT]
21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species
Name: California Gray Whale or Pacific Gray Whale
Number: Approximately 20,000
Species Genera: Family Eschrichtiidae/eschrichtius robustus
California Gray Whales are cetaceans, a group of sea
mammals including whales and porpoises. They are baleen whales,
meaning baleen blades take the place of teeth. Baleen
whales gulp in a large amount of water, close their mouths, and use
their tongues to press the water through their baleen blades. The
water trickles out between the whales' lips, leaving
behind plankton for the whale to swallow. All baleen whales have
two blowholes (nostrils). For more whale information, see the
Seaworld homepage.
22. Impact and Effect: HIGH and REGUL
Admittedly this is a value judgment. It is impossible to
predict how a saltworks in Laguna San Ignacio would impact on the
whales migration, breeding, and birthing patterns.
23. Urgency and Lifetime: MEDIUM
As things stand right now the California Gray Whale is in
no danger of extinction. Although the species was once on the brink
of extinction due to overhunting, laws protecting the whales
and their habitats have resulted in a remarkable improvement in
whale numbers.
24. Substitutes: Greater conservation efforts (CONSV)
All exploitation of natural resources involves some degree of
environmental degradation. Natural resources must not be
squandered. Since the production of salt from sea water
involves ecosystem loss affecting whales and other species, the
industries and governments that purchase the salt must make efforts
to ration its use or find substitutes.
VI. OTHER Factors
25. Culture: NO
Ecosystem destruction is not an inherent part of Mexican
culture. Whales are protected by national and international laws.
This is instead an issue of pesos vs. whales.
26. Human Rights: NO
Although all humanity will suffer a great loss if the
California Gray Whales are driven to extinction, no human rights
issues are at stake. The local people who would be most affected
by the expansion are divided over the issue. Those who are opposed
to the destruction of the lagoon's ecosystem have organized. Others
believe they will benefit from the new jobs.
27. Trans-Border: NO
Countries that import salt will be affected. If the
expansion is not approved, they may see higher prices. The building
of the new saltworks would affect the many tourists (mainly
American) who come to see the whales. In addition, most of the
travel companies offering tours to Laguna San Ignacio are
American-owned.
28. Relevant Literature
Anderson, Nick. "Salt Project Planned in Whale Zone; Lagoon in Baja
is birthing site for gray whales." The San Francisco Chronicle. 1
July 1995, p. A12.
______. "A Whale of a Debate Over Salt Stirs in a Baja California
Lagoon." The Christian Science
Monitor. 10 July 1996, p. 1.
Aridjis, Homero. "Gray Whales vs. Pesos: Which Should Prevail?" The
Los Angeles Times. 12
March 1995, p. M1.
Cable New Network (CNN). "Mexican Company's Salt Extraction
Threatens Whales." 9 April 1995,
Transcript #158-5.
Darling, Juanita. "Ecologists Fear Baja Salt Mine Would Threaten
Gray Whales." The Los Angeles
Times. 6 March 1995, p. A1.
______. "Mexico Ruling Favors Whales Over Mine." The Los Angeles
Times. 24 March 1995, p.
A13.
Dibble, Sandra. "Mexico weighs massive salt plant by pristine whale
habitat, Rise of the Whales."
The San Diego Union-Tribune. 20 March 1995, p. A1.
Diebel, Linda. "Lost lagoon development plans endanger the breeding
grounds of California gray
whales and the livelihood of Mexican fisherman." The
Toronto Star. 11 September 1995,
p. F6.
The Gazette (Montreal). "Bardot campaigns for gray whales." 26 June
1995, p. B5.
Malkin, Elisabeth and Harry Maurer. "While Whales Mate in a
Lagoon...The Locals Debate a Big
Salt Project." Business Week. Spotlight on Mexico; Number
3440. 4 September 1995, p. 5.
Morrison, Scott. "Is Mexican whale sanctuary endangered?" The San
Diego Union-Tribune. 28 March
1995, p. A3.
Reuters World Service. "Mexico salt plan threatens whales,
ecologists say." 27 March 1995.
Sanders, Ernest. The Chicago Tribune. 19 June 1995, p. 8.
Sherman, Paul. "The Friends of the Whales Fight a Salt Factory."
The New York Times. 27 April, 1995, p. A4.
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