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Corpse of dolphin left at ministry
The Guardian
8th June2004
A dead dolphin encased in ice has been delivered to the London headquarters of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by Greenpeace in protest at the number killed by UK fishing boats.
The environmental group claims that the government is failing to take action to stop the problem. The dolphin, which with the ice weighs around two tonnes, was killed by a trawler and recovered recently in the Channel by a Greenpeace ship.
Greenpeace said the creature bore tell-tale signs of having been caught in a net, including a cut and torn fin and flippers and a broken beak and teeth.
Sarah Duthie, Greenpeace oceans campaigner, said, "By allowing this killing to continue, the government is failing in its legal obligation to protect dolphins, and that is why Greenpeace is mounting a legal challenge."
Unintentional capture in fishing nets of dolphins, porpoises and other species is recognised as a problem worldwide. It is estimated to cause 300,000 whales, dolphin and porpoise deaths a year. Overall it has been estimated that 23% of the global fisheries catch is returned dead to the sea.
Greenpeace also yesterday launched a legal challenge to force fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw to ban UK fishing boats from "pair trawling" for sea bass, a method of fishing which involves two boats dragging a net, which can be as large as several football pitches.
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