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By Tamás Marghescu

 

In the past years – essentially since the General Assembly in Belgrade 2007 – many discussions, often controversial, took place. Now is the time to draw a synthesis of the results and inform the members about the way forward.

 

At the 56th General Assembly in Paris (2009) the CIC members formulated Resolution CIC GA56.RES01 (CIC Trophy Measurement System) and

1. recognized that the CIC needs to regain and retain a global leadership position in the scientific evaluation of sustainable trophy hunting through the establishment and administration of a database of hunting trophies
2. reconfirmed the Limassol Declaration with regard to the misuse of the CIC Trophy Measurement System
3. called upon national trophy measurement groups to actively engage with the trophy task team to produce a successful outcome

During the 58th General Assembly in Saint Petersburg in May 2011, an unofficial ad-hoc meeting of CIC members interested in trophy evaluation matters was called by Gerhard Damm, the former Coordinator Trophies and Exhibitions. Gerhard Damm was elected as President for the CIC Division Applied Science by the General Assembly in Saint Petersburg.Unfortunately, not all interested members could be notified in time during the hectic hours of the last assembly day, nevertheless, there was a substantial gathering. Gerhard Damm informed the participants at this meeting (pointing out repeatedly its unofficial nature) that based on previous resolutions and discussionsbasic agreementshad been reached on the following points:

1. The principal measuring methods for Western and Central European game animals would remain as they are.
2. All trophies taken behind escape proof fence, irrespective of size of the enclosure, will be marked as such and will be listed separately.
3. The measuring methods for North American game animals would continue to be the methods used by Boone & Crockett Club, based on the agreement reached between B&C and CIC in 1976. This agreement will be renewed officially between the two parties. New regulations introduced by B&C in the meantime will be incorporated.
4. The measuring methods of Central Asian game animals will likely remain by and large unchanged; however, where those methods are based on B&C methods, such methods will be adapted to the newest B&C regulation.
5. The methods for African Game will be those used in the current edition of Rowland Ward’s Record of Big Game.
6. The age of the animal will be included into the measuring sheets; in the first stage this will be an informative column only. Experts form the CIC will develop a proposal on how the age can be included into the valuation in future in order to find a suitable compromise respecting the different points of view, respectively the legal prescriptions in the various European countries in particular.
7. The Division Applied Science will present a revised draft proposal for the Rules and Regulations of Trophy Measuring (in the three official languages of the CIC) at the EC Meeting in September 2011. This draft will be sent for comment to all interested parties. The draft will also be scrutinized by the CIC Legal Advisors. A committee will review the comments received and draft a compromise solution (in the three official languages of the CIC) which will be presented at the Council meeting in November for decision.
8. The CIC Red and Blue Books will be revised with the assistance of experts from all fields and different nationalities. The present edition is outdated and contains errors. These errors will be eliminated. A draft version of the combined Red and Blue Books (in the three official languages of the CIC) will be made available for comment during the latter part of 2011 with the aim of finalizing the new edition before 31st December.
9. The CIC legal Advisors will arrange for the respective protective umbrella for the CIC intellectual property (Red and Blue Book, Rules and Regulations) with respect to trade marks, copy rights, right of use, etc. This process will be finished before March 2012.

On June 14th 2011, the 12th CIC Coordination Forum for Central and Eastern Europe agreed in Bratislava on proposals already put forward in the various working documents of the CIC Trophy Task Team and during the Saint Petersburg GA. The participants in the meeting in Bratislava agreed that three areas merit particular attention, e. g. animal age, recognition of CIC Trophy Measurers and recognition by the CIC of top class trophies. In principle these points were already covered in extensive documentation distributed during the past years and also in previous meetings of theCIC Coordination Forum for Central and Eastern Europe.

 

The unanimous agreement in Bratislava recognizes with respect to the inclusion of age into the CIC trophy evaluationin principle the proposal made in St. Petersburg (see point 6, above), but requested a transition period ending not later than 2016 in order to streamline possible divergences in national regulations. The Rules and Regulations as proposed in 2009 by the then Coordinator Trophies and Exhibitions, Gerhard Damm, and circulated extensively throughout the CIC delegations suggested already the allocation of an official ID number to each recognized CIC measurer. It has been noted that the Bratislava participants agreed unanimously on this point. The Bratislava participants also recognized the need of a two-tier system as proposed in the Rules and Regulations draft, where the CIC recognizes the expertise of measurers either as national or as international measurers. Furthermore the necessity of adequate training, screening and testing methods was also universally recognized.

 

The Bratislava participants unaminously proposed hunting trophies of merit should be receiving special CIC recognition (e. g. a certificate and/or medal) if the trophy owner request such recognition. Such recognition will be subject to a fee. The 12th CIC Coordination Forum for Central and Eastern Europe requested a transparent recognition system and related fee structure to be developed. Some proposals and fee structures were already tabled in the Draft of the Rules and Regulations in 2009 and 2010 and commented extensively, partially with counter proposals, by many delegations. There is obviously a need to develop a recognition structure which in its final form will constitute a compromise acceptable to all CIC delegations. The Division Applied Science is working on collecting information in this respect from the delegations and will present a revised and transparent draft structure before end of the year 2011.

 

The 12th CIC Coordination Forum for Central and Eastern Europe requested the CIC Executive Committee to prepare the necessary documentation for adoption through the 59th General Assembly. This will be done by the Division Applied Science, since the trophy measuring and scoring systems as well as the storage and evaluation of data is integral task of this Division. The Division – in its working documents presented to the president of the CIC and the EC prior to the Saint Petersburg General Assembly – presented detailed proposals on how to overcome the dead-lock of several years and have workable solutions by end of 2011 for the Council Meeting and final approval through the GA by mid-2012. The outcomes of the Bratislava Meeting were a significant step forward in this work. Principal building blocks of the divisional work plan are:

1. Updated Edition of Red and Blue Book
2. Training Manual for Measurers
3. Appointment of qualified trainers
4. Introduction of Rules and Regulations for Trophy Measuring including ID numbers for recognized measurers and recognition fee structure
5. Storage of trophy data in Hungary using the system and software successfully applied by the Hungarian Hunting Authorities over many years
6. Adequate legal protection of the Intellectual Property of the CIC

 

The agreements and compromise solutions tabled so far form a solid basis from which to work. As the CIC Director GeneralI therefore call on ALL INTERESTED EXPERTS to notify the Division President Gerhard Damm (Gerhard@muskwa.co.za) at the earliest possible time of their interest to contribute to our common task. All information exchange will take place in the three official languages of the CIC on a web based platform so that all participants can see the status quo of the documents, the contributions of individual members and associations as well as the evolution of the documentation until the final draft stage is reached.