EUROPEAN CETACEAN BYCATCH CAMPAIGN
"Man is but a strand in the complex web of life"
"Man is but a strand in the complex web of life"
The European Cetacean Bycatch Campaign Submission to the European Commission’s Green Paper on the Future of the Common Fisheries Policy
Almost twenty years from its inception, the Common Fisheries Policy is indeed confronted with major challenges; not least, the major challenge of reducing the level of cetacean bycatch in
European waters.
The issue of cetacean bycatch was the focus of a statement from the United Nations Environment Programme, April 16, 2001.
It stated: “Limits on the numbers of dolphins and porpoises accidentally killed in
fishing nets are urgently needed if healthy populations are to be restored to
the North Sea. Members of an international conservation treaty backed by the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are making the recommendation.
It is hoped that these bycatch limits will form part of a review of the
Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which has been launched by the Commission and
which is due to be completed in December 2002”.
Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of UNEP, stated that the decision to review the CFP, partly with a view to make it more environmentally-
mammals in European waters".
Many cetacean populations will soon be rendered unsustainable, as tens of thousands are dying in fishing nets each year.
They become entangled in tangle nets, trammel nets, drift nets, trawl nets, gill nets and long lines. The true extent of the bycatch problem is not known, as many fleets prohibit observers from boarding their vessels.
However, studies, which have been carried out, illustrate the scale of the problem and the pressing need for cetacean bycatch mitigation measures to be incorporated into the Common Fisheries Policy.
It is estimated that 6.2% of the total population of harbour porpoises in the Celtic Sea is killed each year in fishing nets, and 4% of the total population of harbour porpoises in the North Sea.
In a statement from the United Nations Environment Programme, April 16, 2001,
Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of UNEP, said, "Studies indicate
that in some parts of the North Sea and adjacent waters, such as the Celtic Sea, 6 per cent of small cetaceans are being killed after becoming entangled in fishing nets. This may amount to more than 2,000 harbour porpoises annually in the Celtic Sea. Scientists advise that this level of by-
It is estimated that pelagic trawl bycatches of dolphins are widespread in the Bay of Biscay, Western Approaches, and the Celtic Sea and are likely to be the largest of several fishery bycatches of common dolphins which probably exceed 1% of the local summer population.
The International Whaling Commission has stated that a continual kill rate of only 1% of a
cetacean population should be cause for concern and investigation should take place as a matter of priority ( IWC 1995 ).
ASCOBANS, the Agreement on Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas, will
be pressing the European Commission to restrict the level of marine mammals
dying after entanglement in nets to less than 1.7 per cent of their populations as a first step towards improving their conservation.
A study of the French albacore tuna drift net fishery 1992 -
In 1995, a study of the UK tuna drift net fishery (when only 28% was observed) revealed that the annual bycatch of dolphins was TWICE that of the French. These drift net fisheries are supposed to be phased out by 2002, but it would seem that the powerful tuna fishing lobby plans to seek a ruling from the European Court to
maintain tuna drift net fishing.
Studies have estimated that the annual bycatch of harbour porpoises in the Celtic Sea hake gill net fishery, is of the order of 2237 individuals, and that the annual bycatch of common dolphins is of the order of 200. However, this estimate does not include the bycatch from any UK boat under 15 metres in length, any Irish boat under 10 metres, any of the French boats, or any of the tangle net boats. Neither does it include a proportion of bycaught porpoises and dolphins that disentangle from the net during hauling, that are already dead.
It is estimated that 7000 harbour porpoises are caught in Danish North Sea gill net fisheries each year, and 1000 in the UK North Sea gill net fisheries.
Many thousands of cetaceans are killed in trawl nets annually, including minke and long-
Available scientific papers suggest that potentially high numbers of harbour porpoises, common, white-
Further estimates suggest that up to 50 dolphins may be taken in a single haul of a pelagic trawl (Morizur et al, 1997).
Only a very small proportion of bycaught cetaceans strand on the beaches of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, and Spain.
This was clearly demonstrated when 22 bycaught porpoises were tagged and discarded 50 km from any coast. Not one was recovered as a stranding.
Furthermore, the annual bycatch of harbour porpoises in the Celtic Sea hake gill net fishery, is estimated to be in the order of 2237 individuals, and yet the average number of porpoises stranding on the beaches of Ireland is less than 18.
Therefore, it would seem that the number of stranded cetaceans, deemed to have died as a result of bycatch, is only a small proportion of those that have actually died as a result of entanglement in fishing nets.
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