HONIARA, Solomon Islands (24 Oct 2007) — The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) blasted dolphin slave trader Chris Porter and the Solomon Islands for violating a regional agreement on cetacean conservation the Pacific island nation signed last year. The Solomon Islands was one of several nations that signed the agreement aimed at protecting marine mammals. Even as government officials in the Solomon Islands stuggled to legitimize the sale of 28 dolphins to an amusement park in Dubai, SPREP's director Asterio Takesi speaking at the Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas conference in Papua New Guinea said the multi-million dollar deal was "contrary to the intent of the agreement". Meanwile, Chris Porter, 37, the Canadian profiteer and marine wildlife exploitationist who is behind a company called "Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education (sic) Centre and Exporters", boasted about how much money was flowing from Dubai to the Solomon Islands. Porter, who has repeatedly harassed CDNN and its sponsors, was defiant boasting that his scheme to sell dolphins "to amusement parks everywhere" would enrich everyone in the Solomon Islands who cooperates. Porter declined to comment on how much he made on the deal and whether government officials in the Solomon Islands who recently reversed a ban on dolphin exports shared in the profits. According to unconfirmed reports from CDNN sources in Honiara, Dubai paid Porter at least $5 million of which more than $1.25 million went to various bank accounts in the Solomon Islands. Government officials in the Solomons have denied they are financially involved in the scheme. | 
