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Close fishery to save dolphins
ic Berkshire.co.uk
30th January 2004
MPs have called for the closure of the sea bass fishery in UK waters to cut the death rate of dolphins caught up in trawlers' fishing gear.
The Commons all-party Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee made its recommendation in a report following an inquiry into the growing number of dolphins and porpoises affected.
Worldwide, by-catch is thought to be the most significant threat to the conservation of these creatures.
Now the MPs have said that if ministers do not succeed in reducing the level of incidental deaths in the pelagic (mid-water) trawl fishery for sea bass to an acceptable level within two fishing seasons then the Government should act to have the fishery closed.
The fishery could be closed if the Government made a formal request to the European Commission, asking it to impose emergency measures.
The MPs also make recommendations about the use of "pingers" - small battery operated devices that can be attached to fishing nets and deter cetaceans from coming too close to the nets.
The report says pingers should be made mandatory on all bottom set gill nets - used to catch the sea bass - in the Celtic Sea, regardless of the distance of the fishery from the coast.
The committee is extremely concerned that the Government's proposal to make them compulsory only on bottom set gill nets that are at least six nautical miles from the Celtic Sea coast could create an incentive for fishermen to set more nets in inshore waters, thus increasing by-catch in these waters.
The MPs say the Government should act to reduce by-catch of porpoises in the English Channel, given that it is "the most intensively gill netted area of waters around Britain".
The Government should also move quickly to set up long-term observer monitoring programmes for pelagic fisheries other than the sea bass fishery, such as those for mackerel, horse mackerel and tuna.
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