Fish Minister Challenged to Tackle Dolphin Deaths

Fisheries minister Jonathan Shaw has been challenged over Government action to tackle the number of dolphin deaths ending up on Westcountry beaches, writes Matt Chorley, London Editor.

Conservative MEP Neil Parish called on ministers to redouble efforts to end cetacean deaths around Europe.

He accused Mr Shaw of being “too quiet” on the issue, adding: “Without action now, dolphins may not be around for future generations to enjoy.”

Mr Parish said pair trawling – fishing activity carried out by two boats – was one of the main causes of dolphin deaths and cetacean by-catch, not just around the South West but in much of Europe’s waters.

He said if research from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs supported that view, “the Government must strongly demand that the European Commission and other member states act to end pair trawling. The Commission is always reluctant to ban pair trawling because it fears a backlash from the French, who are the main users of this type of fishing gear.

“For centuries, dolphins have been an endless cause of fascination and joy. The Government was vocal on this matter for a few years but it has gone too quiet since Mr Shaw became the minister and he must now show some backbone and put real pressure on the French.”

Last night, a Defra spokesman said the Government had funded studies by the Natural History Museum and Institute of Zoology for nearly 15 years into trends in cetacean strandings and causes of death around the UK coastline. Under this research contract, not only were all stranded animals recorded but post-mortem examinations were carried out on some of the animal carcasses to establish the exact cause of death. Defra had also commissioned two further research projects. The first was looking into the effect of acoustic noise on cetaceans, the second placed observers on fishing vessels to check whether there were any incidents of by-catch.

“In 2004, we banned pair trawling for bass by UK vessels within 12 miles of the south-west of England, as this fishery was shown to have relatively high levels of cetacean by-catch.

“We made representations to the Commission to extend this ban to all EU vessels but, unfortunately, the Commission did not support this. We could therefore only take unilateral action.”

He said the Government was continuing to fund research by the Sea Mammal Research Unit on by-catch mitigation devices for the bass pair-trawl fishery.

(c) 2008 Western Morning News, The Plymouth (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.