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MPs call for increased protection of dolphins
John Innes
The Scotsman
30th January 2004
Members of Parliament are today due to call for the closure of the sea-bass fishery in UK waters in order to reduce the death rate of dolphins caught up in trawlers’ fishing gear.
The Commons all-party environment food and rural affairs committee has 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, 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 to deter cetaceans from approaching 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 concerned that the government’s proposal to make pingers 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.
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