Cuckoo-shrike
Well-known member
Cornwall Wildlife Trust has just issued the following news release:
"The Cornwall Wildlife Trust today condemned the Cornwall Sea Fisheries
Committee (CSFC) decision to take no further action on a report setting out
the risk posed by inshore gillnets to the best known dolphins in Cornwall -
bottlenose dolphins. These playful animals, that are regularly seen from
cliffs and beaches by so many people, are under severe threat of extinction
from accidental capture in gillnets due to their critically low numbers.
The report, written by local cetacean expert Nick Tregenza, was discussed
briefly at the recent meeting but the Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee has
opted to do nothing to protect these animals, despite the recent addition of
environmental responsibilities to its remit.
Bottlenose dolphins were seen regularly inshore around Cornwall until around
40 years ago. Their disappearance was most likely due to organochlorine
compounds, mainly agricultural pesticides that decimated populations of
otters, some birds, and probably porpoises, at around the same time.
A new group of approximately 20 bottlenose dolphins arrived in Cornwall in
September 1991 but sadly the numbers seen in the group declined over several
years thereafter from an average of around 15 to only 8, with groups larger
than 12 now being very unusual. Many people do not realize how rare these
animals are due to their regular use of inshore coastal waters and
consequent frequent sightings. The fact that they are regularly seen
inshore makes their economic value to tourism very high.
Bycatch of bottlenose dolphins in gillnets has been identified as
potentially a major problem for our local dolphins. The gillnets in
question involve a wall of netting with weights at the bottom and floats at
the top and are usually anchored to the sea bed. They are more heavily used
around the coast of Cornwall than anywhere else in Britain.
The Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT), who records and collates all data on
marine strandings and is actively campaigning to prevent the deaths of
cetaceans in fishing nets says that the risk to bottlenose dolphins is of
highest concern because of their very small local population. They could
quite easily go extinct without even being noticed as only a small
proportion of dolphins dying in nets ever turn up on beaches. With so few
in their resident pod, the chances of one dead animal washing ashore are
extremely slim which makes it very difficult to prove our argument. These
nets are known to catch bottlenose dolphins in many other locations around
the world, and in Cornwall, are also well known to catch the smaller harbour
porpoise (97 porpoises have washed ashore already in 2004) as well as the
more numerous common dolphins that come into Cornish waters in large groups
in winter.
One possible solution to the dolphin problem is to require nets close to the
coast to carry 'pingers' which make a sound to keep dolphins away. These
acoustic deterrent devices are still being trialled but are becoming cheaper
and better and would enable fishermen to continue to use the most valuable
inshore sites, whilst keeping the dolphins out of their nets. However, the
CSFC rejected any further discussion on the subject saying that pingers
would not be an option due to their expense, despite already being used as a
solution in similar fisheries around the world.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust is amazed that the Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee
can simply ignore this issue and agree to take no further action. CWT
stresses that the precautionary principle should be applied and that
everything possible should be done to help prevent these needless deaths
before it's too late."
Andy
"The Cornwall Wildlife Trust today condemned the Cornwall Sea Fisheries
Committee (CSFC) decision to take no further action on a report setting out
the risk posed by inshore gillnets to the best known dolphins in Cornwall -
bottlenose dolphins. These playful animals, that are regularly seen from
cliffs and beaches by so many people, are under severe threat of extinction
from accidental capture in gillnets due to their critically low numbers.
The report, written by local cetacean expert Nick Tregenza, was discussed
briefly at the recent meeting but the Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee has
opted to do nothing to protect these animals, despite the recent addition of
environmental responsibilities to its remit.
Bottlenose dolphins were seen regularly inshore around Cornwall until around
40 years ago. Their disappearance was most likely due to organochlorine
compounds, mainly agricultural pesticides that decimated populations of
otters, some birds, and probably porpoises, at around the same time.
A new group of approximately 20 bottlenose dolphins arrived in Cornwall in
September 1991 but sadly the numbers seen in the group declined over several
years thereafter from an average of around 15 to only 8, with groups larger
than 12 now being very unusual. Many people do not realize how rare these
animals are due to their regular use of inshore coastal waters and
consequent frequent sightings. The fact that they are regularly seen
inshore makes their economic value to tourism very high.
Bycatch of bottlenose dolphins in gillnets has been identified as
potentially a major problem for our local dolphins. The gillnets in
question involve a wall of netting with weights at the bottom and floats at
the top and are usually anchored to the sea bed. They are more heavily used
around the coast of Cornwall than anywhere else in Britain.
The Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT), who records and collates all data on
marine strandings and is actively campaigning to prevent the deaths of
cetaceans in fishing nets says that the risk to bottlenose dolphins is of
highest concern because of their very small local population. They could
quite easily go extinct without even being noticed as only a small
proportion of dolphins dying in nets ever turn up on beaches. With so few
in their resident pod, the chances of one dead animal washing ashore are
extremely slim which makes it very difficult to prove our argument. These
nets are known to catch bottlenose dolphins in many other locations around
the world, and in Cornwall, are also well known to catch the smaller harbour
porpoise (97 porpoises have washed ashore already in 2004) as well as the
more numerous common dolphins that come into Cornish waters in large groups
in winter.
One possible solution to the dolphin problem is to require nets close to the
coast to carry 'pingers' which make a sound to keep dolphins away. These
acoustic deterrent devices are still being trialled but are becoming cheaper
and better and would enable fishermen to continue to use the most valuable
inshore sites, whilst keeping the dolphins out of their nets. However, the
CSFC rejected any further discussion on the subject saying that pingers
would not be an option due to their expense, despite already being used as a
solution in similar fisheries around the world.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust is amazed that the Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee
can simply ignore this issue and agree to take no further action. CWT
stresses that the precautionary principle should be applied and that
everything possible should be done to help prevent these needless deaths
before it's too late."
Andy
