We should update you on this. Do you remember, it was a couple of weeks ago?.. We rejoiced together at the TAC (the total allowable catch) to have been canceled for the Caspian seal at last, and thought that this species would be inscribed into the Russian Red Book... Remember? And at the same time... No, not at the same time. All this had happened a little earlier, but had done in secret. And for this reason, we found out it a little later. Let us remind you that, in February last year, the Commission on the Red Book at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation prepared a draft of the order on the new list of endangered species, subspecies and populations to be inscribed into the Red Book of Russia. This document was approved by the Bureau of the Commission; it was assumed that Sergey Donskoy, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia, would sign it in June. He did not sign it. The matter dragged on for almost a year, and we thought why it lasted so long. Everything turned out on New Year’s Eve. So... The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had changed the procedure for taking decisions on the Red Book and, to be sure, those who were responsible for taking these decisions. Most of the zoologists had been expelled, and representatives of hunting and fishing organizations had been appointed instead of them. They even created a new structure, so-called "Presidium of the Commission", endowed with absolute authority to form the Commission and take final decisions about species to be excluded from the Red Book or inscribed into it. All this was done in complete secrecy, so was a complete surprise. Now any resolution of scientists can be easily canceled by the Presidium, literally, with the stroke of a pen. It is exactly what happened at the first meeting of the Presidium excluded the majority of endangered species (!) and our Caspian seal from the February list. For the first time, not the arguments of zoologists, but the opinion of absolutely different people (the lobbyists of fishing and hunting structures, merchants, owners of dolphinariums and oceanariums, in a word, all those who consider the surrounding world to be exclusively as resources) have become decisive. "Nothing personal, it’s just business"… This is the result of 2017 - the year of ecology. Everything has fallen into place. The name "Ministry of Natural Resources" is not in vain. It’s bad, friends. Right? Very bad... Never mind, we will continue struggling for our seal. In the end, we have achieved the cancellation of the TAC for the Caspian seal; we will achieve the Caspian seal to be inscribed into the Red Book also. After the New Year holidays, we will submit our petition to the State Duma, to the Premier Minister and President. We promise you that we will not give it up. If it is possible to add more signatures under this petition, please, add. It is very important - “the more the better”. One of the slogans of the stormy Parisian spring of 1968 was “Be realistic, demand the impossible!” We will demand it. The Caspian seal has no one to count on. Only on us with you. The short link to the petition: https://goo.gl/XKm1UW *** The scientists’ open letter about the preparation of the Red Book of the Russian Federation to be send to V.V. Putin: https://trv-science.ru/2017/11/20/letter_to_putin_about_red_book/. Nataliya Shumeyko, Kaspika Caspian Seals Conservation Agency http://kaspika.org/en Photo by Oleg Belyalov, Kazakhstan