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Dolphin deaths won't stop
Western Morning News
22nd March 2003
Dead dolphins and porpoises will still wash up on Westcountry shores even if new Government proposals, scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, March 26, are toughened and imposed immediately, warned the RSPCA today. The society said the draft of the long-awaited strategy for tackling the problem involving commercial fishing nets is a positive step but added that the carcass toll will only drop significantly when other European boats follow suit.
Plans reveal the Government is poised for the first time to close fisheries once a bycatch problem is identified. The RSPCA welcomes the move, saying it is vital that the first dolphin death triggers a response from the Government and that the EU mirrors the move across the European fleet.
RSPCA marine wildlife officer Laila Sadler said: "This strategy is long overdue. The Government has been obliged for a decade under the Habitats Directive to monitor and reduce dolphin and porpoise deaths in nets and this is the first time we have seen a strategy to stop the killing.
"This proposal is an important development but it now needs to be tightened and translated into action underwater. Every delay means more deaths. Since January this year 156 dolphins and porpoises have washed up on Cornish beaches, compared with 73 for the same period in 2002."
Further Government plans include the introduction of devices called pingers, which emit a sound warning the mammals that a net is nearby.
The RSPCA said trials have shown pingers can reduce deaths, but they have potential drawbacks. It said they will introduce noise into an already noisy marine environment, porpoises and dolphins may become used to the sound and ignore it over time or large numbers of pingers could exclude them from important feeding or breeding areas.
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