<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/21/uk-fishing-industry-underreporting-whale-dolphin-porpoise-bycatch>
"Only a handful of instances of accidental bycatch of whales, dolphins and
porpoises have been recorded under the UK government’s self-reporting
initiative, despite the likelihood that hundreds are being caught by fishing
vessels.
Fishers have been encouraged to voluntarily record the bycatch of marine
mammals in an attempt to reduce the accidental catch, which would benefit the
fishing industry and the health of the seas.
But last year fishers only made 19 reports, even though experts estimate that
about 1,000 porpoises, hundreds of dolphins and tens of whales die in UK waters
each year. Of the reports made, only two were found to show any mortality or
injury to marine mammals, one a harbour porpoise and the other a common
dolphin.
The tiny number of recorded bycatch showed that the self-reporting scheme was
not working and should be reformed, the group Whale and Dolphin Conservation
(WDC) told the Guardian.
Bianca Cisternino, bycatch coordinator at WDC, said: “We were shocked to be
told it was such a low figure. This is, of course, a gross underestimation of
the actual amount of bycatch occurring, and highlights that self-reporting is
an inadequate method for recording deaths of marine mammals in nets and gear.”
She said that fishers themselves wanted to avoid bycatch, not least because
catching whales and dolphins can harm their nets, but were not being helped to
do so by the government. Using different nets and fishing gear, and other
technology on vessels, can help to avoid bycatch in the first place.
“The current UK programme provides no incentives or training for fishers to
know how to self-report bycatch and identify the different species caught. The
fault lies with [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] Defra
and the Marine Management Organisation for not putting in proper measures for
monitoring bycatch and relying on self-reporting methods that do not work,”
said Cisternino.
Bycatch is the biggest single killer of whales and dolphins around the world.
There are more than 5,000 fishing vessels registered in the UK, but only six
vessels made reports on accidental bycatch of marine mammals last year."
Via Khurram Wadee and Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
