Wildlife trusts call for marine ministry

In the past 12 months a record number of dolphins have been washed up on the South West coast

A new government ministry to protect the UK's threatened marine species and habitats is urgently needed, wildlife campaigners have warned.

The call by The Wildlife Trusts comes in a new report which says that dolphins, porpoises, basking sharks, fish and corals are in serious trouble in UK waters and marine laws aimed at protecting them are totally inadequate.

The trusts estimate that in the next 10 years bottlenose dolphins, currently found in south-west England and Scotland, could become extinct.

Deaths of dolphins accidentally caught in fishing nets have steadily increased to levels that seriously threaten their long-term survival and some of the UK's unique and precious sites on the seabed are being irreparably damaged.

Dr Simon Lyster, Director General of The Wildlife Trusts said: "Our marine environment is in much more trouble than people realise.

"We are still fishing in ways that result in the death of hundreds of dolphins and porpoises each year, and in the destruction of precious and rare marine habitats.

"Local wildlife trusts are doing what they can, but we urgently need new marine legislation and a radical overhaul of the way in which we manage our marine environment."

Dolphins could become extinct in UK waters within 10 years

The report calls for immediate action to fundamentally change the way UK waters are managed.

One key recommendation is a raft of new marine laws and the establishment of a single government ministry with overall responsibility for ensuring marine resources are managed sustainably.

It says the number of dolphins drowned or injured in nets is dramatically increasing. This year a record number of 500 animals were stranded on our shores with post-mortem examinations revealing that the majority had been injured or drowned in nets.

In Cornwall the number and distribution of bottlenose dolphins indicates a serious decline of almost two thirds over the last 10 years.

With an estimated population of only 350 bottlenose dolphins resident in UK waters, the worst estimates of their extinction from our shores is 10 years.

Joan Edwards, Marine Policy Director of The Wildlife Trusts said: "The system of marine conservation in the UK is woefully deficient. The enormity of these problems demand immediate action and commitment from national and local Government to ensure effective protection of the marine environment."

A spokesman said many of the initiatives suggested by The Wildlife Trusts are already being taken forward in the package of initiatives announced in its first Marine Stewardship Report, Safeguarding our Seas, published in May.

"This provides a clear statement of our strategy for the conservation and sustainable development of our seas and how we are working to deliver a vision of clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas," he said.

"The Government recognises the sense of urgency expressed by this report, and welcomes the Wildlife Trusts' work to highlight these issues, but to develop a strategy to safeguard the marine environment for generations to come involves consultation and discussion with all stakeholders."

The Wildlife Trusts want the public to back their campaign for immediate Government action by writing to their local MPs.

BBC NEWS July 24 2002