21 May 2006
Cornwall Wildlife Trust is dismayed at the Government's recent
announcement that they are cutting funding of investigations
into the cause of death of stranded dolphins by 90%. The
Government has cut the number of post-mortem examinations, which
can be carried out each year throughout England and Wales from
800 to 100.
This comes at a crucial time when conclusive evidence is
vital for convincing the fisheries and government of the scale
of the cetacean (dolphins, porpoises and whales) bycatch
problem.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Marine Strandings Network launches
a new report today documenting evidence of fisheries-related
bycatch in dolphins that washed up on Cornwall's beaches in
January this year. Joana Doyle, Marine Conservation Officer for
the Trust explains, "This report and
previous evidence, collected by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust,
shows that gill and entangling net fisheries are responsible for
accidentally killing many of these enigmatic creatures."
Forty-nine (49) dead dolphins and porpoises were reported to the
Network during January 2006. The figure has since risen to over
one hundred and twenty (120). Between January and March 2006 on
average one dead cetacean stranded on Cornish beaches each day.
Considering that only a relatively small proportion of cetaceans
which die in fishing nets get washed ashore, the actual death
toll in the seas around Cornwall is probably considerably
higher.
Given that both common dolphins and harbour porpoises are
becoming entangled in these nets, it is likely that they pose a
threat to bottlenose dolphins too. The bottlenose dolphin
population off south-west England could be critically endangered
if even one dolphin were caught.
Joana explained, "At this crucial time, the Government's
decision to cut funding of investigations into stranded
cetaceans is simply inexplicable. Post mortem results
provide undisputable evidence of bycatch in certain fisheries."
Joana sums up, "Cornwall Wildlife Trust is
extremely concerned about what this loss in vital information
provided by post mortem examinations will mean for cetacean
conservation, and urges the government not to cut funding for
this very important research. Although we
don't know what impact this bycatch is
having on cetacean populations, I think people would agree that
it is undesirable to have dead dolphins littering the beaches
around Cornwall for the local tourism industry, for health and
safety reasons, and simply from an animal welfare perspective.
The Government should be doing everything in its power to
determine the causes of dolphin deaths so that we can work
towards preventing them."
Please report all strandings in Cornwall
to our Strandings Hotline:
0845 201 2626 or
for outside Cornwall, call: 0207 9425155.
|
