Scientists imagine many extra dolphins die at sea than wash ashore.
Hundreds of dolphins are washing up on France’s Atlantic coast and 1000’s extra are believed killed in fishermen’s nets annually, as environmentalists and Brussels stress the federal government to guard the marine mammals.
On Wednesday, Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, head of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), mentioned he would write to President Emmanuel Macron that “the time has come to do our utmost to save lots of dolphins from mistreatment and even extinction.
“This dramatic scenario is even much less acceptable provided that it’s avoidable,” Bougrain-Dubourg added.
Pro-dolphin activists say dangerous fishing actions, together with deep-sea and sea-bed trawling, should be halted for a number of weeks within the Bay of Biscay between France and Spain.
The Pelagis ocean observatory has noticed a surge in dolphin deaths on the Atlantic coast, with 127 frequent dolphins washed up in January alone—up from 73 in the identical month final yr.
Increased dolphin deaths are often seen later within the yr, throughout their February-March coastal feeding season that brings them nearer to fishing vessels chasing hake and sea bass.
This yr the rise in finds is “particularly early”, Pelagis mentioned this month.
Over the entire of 2022, 669 dolphins washed up—down from 1,299 in 2020.
Scientists imagine that greater than 80 p.c of lifeless dolphins sink or decompose at sea reasonably than washing ashore, suggesting the actual variety of deaths is way increased at as much as 11,000 per yr.
Of the washed-up dolphins, “most offered indicators of being caught in fishing tools”, Pelagis mentioned, with the LPO singling out “slices within the tail fins and clear traces of nets” on their pores and skin.
‘Half-measures’
CIEM, a scientific physique that tracks North Atlantic ecosystems, has for…
2023-01-25 07:00:43 France beneath stress to save lots of dolphins from trawlers
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