Greenpeace is today taking the government to the High Court over its failure to prevent the deaths of thousands of dolphins every year.
The environment group has launched a judicial review of the decision by fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw to ban pair trawling, a fishing method known to kill dolphins, in only a small part of the UK sea bass fishery, up to 12 miles from the UK coast. This decision, announced in September last year, was taken despite advice from conservation groups and government-funded scientists that this ban would be ineffective and could lead to an increase in dolphin deaths by moving the fishermen into the very areas where dolphins are most numerous (1). Greenpeace is campaigning for a complete ban on pair trawling.
Pair trawling, a fishing method normally used to catch sea bass, involves two boats dragging a huge net between them. Dolphins are trapped in the nets and drown. Last year, government observers witnessed just one pair of UK trawlers killing more than 150 dolphins. The UK and French fleets combined are estimated to drown more than 2,000 common dolphins a year.
Research by government scientists has found that there is a consistently higher rate of dolphin bycatch beyond 12 miles (1)(2) and population studies suggest that common dolphins are more frequently observed further out at sea than 12 miles. Therefore any legal measure that displaces fishing vessels beyond the 12-mile coastal zone is likely to lead to more dolphins being trapped and drowned in nets.
Greenpeace oceans campaigner Willie Mackenzie said,
"Ben Bradshaw has consistently failed to take any meaningful action to protect dolphins from being caught and drowned in huge fishing nets. If pair trawling is allowed to continue, then dolphins could be wiped out in the English Channel."
"The government has a legal obligation under European law to protect whales and dolphins yet the twelve-mile ban is simply a political gesture that is likely to lead to more deaths."
Greenpeace is calling on Ben Bradshaw to ban pair trawling up to the limit of British sovereignty (the mid-point of the English Channel, and otherwise 200 nautical miles from the coastline), and work with the European Commission to achieve a total ban on this fishery.
Results from a study by researchers from WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, of common dolphin numbers in the Channel during winter months have caused renewed concern for the future survival of these animals. In the report 'Cetaceans and Pelagic Trawl Fisheries in the Western Approaches of the English Channel', researchers have given a provisional estimate of 9,700 common dolphins in part of the Channel that overlaps the main fishing ground last winter when the survey was conducted.
The incidental capture in fishing nets of dolphins, porpoises and other marine species is recognised to be a major problem world-wide. It is estimated to kill some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises a year. Overall, it has been estimated that 23% of the global fisheries catch is returned, dead, to the sea.
Further information:
Please contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
Notes:
(1) Sea Mammal Research Unit's submission to Defra's Proposed 12-mile ban on pair trawling. The submission states that the ban would have the opposite effect to minimising dolphin mortality, and 'increase mortality of common dolphins'. Also - for the duration of their study of this fishery - dolphin bycatch rates were considerably higher outside 12 miles than inside.
(2) Report to DEFRA on dolphin bycatch mitigation work in the bass pair trawl fishery, Sea Mammal Research Unit, September 2004. Highest incidences of dolphin bycatch per tow between 2001-2003 were recorded between 24 and 30 nm from shore. In 2003-4 the highest rates were recorded between 12 and 24 nm from shore.
Briefing document: Cetacean bycatch and pelagic trawling
