A British and a South African journalist were due to be brought before court in the south-west African country of Namibia on Friday after being arrested while filming the controversial annual seal cull, police confirmed, according to dpa. Jim Wickens, a journalist with British investigative agency Ecostorm, and Bart Smithers, a South African cameraman, were arrested Thursday at Henties Bay, north of the coastal resort of Swakopmund, a Namibian police spokesman said. The two spent the night in police custody in Henties Bay and were due to appear in Swakopmund magistrate's court Friday on charges of contravening the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act, spokesman Angula Amulungu said. Asked how they might have contravened the act, Amulungu said: "They ought to have permission to film in that area." Asked about reports that the journalists were assaulted by seal hunters, Amulungu said: "As far as I know one of them got a slap from one of them (seal hunters)" but said he did not think he had been seriously assaulted. The British High Commission in Windhoek said it was in contact with Wickens and providing him with consular services. Canada and Namibia are the only countries where seals continue to be culled. The season in Namibia officially opened on July 1. The Ministry of Fisheries has issued a quota of 86,000 seal pups and 6,000 bulls per year for three years starting in 2007 to contain the population of an estimated 650,000 seals currently inhabiting Namibian waters. Animal rights activists says the cull is inhumane and claim that it has led to a dramatic decrease in Namibia's seal population. The Namibia government says that seal populations need to be controlled to protect fish stocks. The fur, skin, meat, fat and genitals of the seals are all harvested and sold.
