Call to cut whale entanglements

The Australian government are being asked to try and prevent whales becoming entangled in fishing lines discarded by foreign boats off the Australian coast.

39 humpbacks and four southern right whales have been entangled off the West Australian coast since the WA government starting keeping records. Five have occurred in the last month, the latest a distressed 10-metre humpback that was rescued south of Perth only a day ago.

"Some of the entanglements appear to be caused by fishing lines discarded in international waters," state's Environment Minister Mark McGowan said. "There needs to be an international agreement developed to deal with the issue, and I intend to raise this with the federal minister at a meeting in Sydney next week. He has shown he is very keen to stop whaling by the Japanese - let us see if he will also act to protect them from the international fishing industry."

Mr McGowan said some of the whales were entangled in domestic crayfishing lines, so he has also called for an urgent meeting with local fishing industry representatives. "The increasing number of entangled whales shows the population is on the rise, but it also means we need to take more care in our ocean-based fishing activities," Mr McGowan also commented. "More needs to be done to ensure these beautiful creatures can migrate safely up and down our coast."