Common dolphin washed up on Bigbury-on-Sea Beach, Devon, January 2004
A team of Greenpeace experts are about to begin a ship tour around UK waters to investigate dolphin deaths. Thousands of dolphins are being killed each year, and we are concerned that local populations could be pushed to extinction.
A new report, The Net Effect, by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society for Greenpeace, details how huge nets, often with net mouths as big as two football pitches and pulled by two trawlers at once, are killing an estimated 10,000 dolphins and porpoises in the north-east Atlantic region every year.
For species such as the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) this could amount to as much as 5% of the population each year. The loss of even 1% of a population is considered by scientists to be of real cause for concern. The decline in dolphin and porpoise numbers will have a largely unknown effect on the marine ecosystem.
Every winter hundreds of dead dolphins and porpoises wash up on British and French beaches. Many have sustained injuries - broken beaks, torn flippers, bruising, and lacerations which tell the story of a prolonged death in fishing nets. The bodies of thousands of others never wash up and are claimed by the ocean.
Pelagic (or mid-water) trawling for sea bass, mackerel, horse mackerel, hake and in the summer albacore tuna threatens common dolphins and Atlantic white sided dolphins in particular, but also affects bottlenose dolphins and long-finned pilot whales. British, French, Irish, Dutch, Danish and Spanish fishing vessels in the English Channel, Bay of Biscay and Celtic Sea are all believed to be responsible.
Our ship the Esperanza will set sail from London this week to investigate the fisheries suspected of being responsible for dolphin deaths. Joining the Greenpeace crew on board will be experts from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Bycatch of dolphins and porpoises in fishing nets is the most acute threat facing these creatures in the waters around the UK and rest of Europe. It is not only a major conservation issue but also a critical welfare matter - thousands of animals are suffering prolonged and agonising deaths that would never be tolerated if they were happening on land.
Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace Executive Director said, "The gruesome body count that washes up on British beaches every year is just a fraction of the 10,000 dolphins and porpoises killed by fishing nets. Thousands of carcasses never come to shore. The Government must take urgent measures to stop this unnecessary killing or dolphins and porpoises could be wiped out from the waters around the UK - a high price to pay for our fish suppers."
"Worldwide, trawling and other forms of destructive and unsustainable fishing are the biggest threat to marine life. Millions of unwanted fish species, birds, turtles, sharks and dolphins die in fishing nets and lines every year. A quarter of everything fished is thrown back into the sea dead."
In addition to dolphin bycatch in trawl nets, thousands of porpoises around the UK are also being killed each year by fixed fishing nets set on the seabed. Around 6,000 harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) have been caught annually in recent years, and in the Celtic Sea 6% of the population is believed to be killed every year by fishing nets.
The UK Government and other EU states are obliged to protect dolphins and porpoises, known collectively as cetaceans. Under the Habitats Directive the UK and other member states must monitor cetacean bycatch and ensure that fishing does not have a negative effect.
At present the EU is considering a new regulation to attempt to address the issue of bycatch. The regulation proposes observers on trawlers but contains no proposals for taking action to actually protect dolphins. The regulation also proposes acoustic deterrents (pingers) on set nets but there is controversy over whether these would be effective. Whilst Greenpeace and WDCS broadly welcome such a proposal it is clear that the measures proposed will not significantly reduce dolphin deaths in fishing nets. It is crucial that any legislation adopted commits governments to take action against fisheries identified as responsible for dolphin deaths.
The unintentional capture in fishing nets of dolphins, porpoises and other marine species is recognised to be a major problem worldwide. 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.
Download The Net Effect.
