Concerns over UK dolphin deaths raised with EU Fisheries Commissioner
   
Following the publication of the South West Dolphin Report by Marine Connection and The Wildlife Trusts in May this year, Lissa Goodwin (Fisheries & Policy Officer, Marine Connection) and Lisa Browning (Marine Development Manager, The Wildlife Trusts) met with European Fisheries & Maritime Affairs Commissioner, Joe Borg, South West England MEP, Neil Parish, and Struan Stevenson MEP in Strasbourg on 11 July to discuss the findings of the report highlighting an increase in dolphin deaths in UK waters.

The two organisations also presented the Commissioner with 371,000 signed petitions calling for immediate action to end cetacean bycatch, clearly demonstrating the level of public feeling over this issue.  
 
During the course of the meeting, the findings of the South West Dolphin Report and European problem of common dolphin bycatch in pair trawling operations for bass were discussed. Additionally EU Regulation No 812/2004 and the continuing levels of high bycatch was also high on the agenda.  Despite this regulation being in force many fishing fleets here in the UK and within Europe continue to operate without pingers (acoustic alerting devices).
 
Commissioner Borg was sympathetic to the concerns raised by the Marine Connection and The Wildlife Trusts. He has said that he will facilitate a meeting with International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the NW regional advisory council in order to disseminate the SW Dolphin Report findings and to permit the evidence to be taken onboard by the European commission.  He outlined some of the current difficulties within Europe and underlined the need for evidence before action can be taken.  He did however state that he hoped action would be taken in this session (during 2008). The commissioner additionally promised to review The Wildlife Trusts’ proposal for an alternative acoustic deterrent device (the TAD – a ‘truly alerting device’ and an alternative to the conventional pinger).
 
Lissa Goodwin, Fisheries & Policy Officer for Marine Connection, said: “We are very pleased with the meeting and encouraged by Commissioner Borg’s response.  However, whilst we appreciate the need for evidence and the political sensitivities within Europe we intend to pursue the meetings proposed to ensure that the commission has the all the evidence it needs to take action”.
 
Lisa Browning, marine development manager at the Wildlife Trusts, added:“We are pleased that Commissioner Borg is also interested in The Wildlife Trusts proposals for an alternative to the pinger, (TAD) and that he is keen to organise a meeting between the Wildlife Trusts and his technical advisors to discuss how this may be taken forward”.
 
Neil Parish (South West England MEP) said: “There is enormous support for a ban on bass pair trawling and stricter control of the fishing practices that result in cetacean bycatch. I think we still have a way to go but this meeting was definitely a positive step forward for our dolphins, whales and porpoises”

With entanglement in fishing gear representing the number one cause of death in stranded dolphins, immediate action is needed at both a European and UK level.