Defra

Main menu

• Contact us
• Access to information
• News
• Site A-Z
• Search

Section navigation

About Defra

Defra Ministers

• Ministers' speeches
• Ministers' statements

MORLEY TELLS CAMPAIGNERS THEY CAN HELP EFFORTS TO SECURE A EUROPEAN ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF DOLPHIN BY-CATCH

27 February 2002

Cetacean by-catch: action in hand

Animal Welfare and Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley today met campaigners, at his invitation, to discuss the action in hand to address the plight of dolphins killed in fishing nets.

At a meeting in London, Mr Morley told representatives from a number of marine welfare groups that he had already commissioned work in the UK which showed evidence of dolphin bycatch levels in the sea bass fisheries. The research has not shown evidence of dolphin bycatch in other pelagic fisheries such as herring, pilchard or mackerel.

Mr Morley also explained that DEFRA was funding a project to adapt nets which might provide a solution. The nets - which include a separator grid - are due to be trialled at sea next month. But he said not everyone in the EU recognised the problem of dolphin bycatch and awareness needed to be raised on all fronts.

Mr Morley said:

"I have always suspected that there was a problem with dolphin bycatch in the bass fishery at certain times of the year and may be in others, but we have needed hard evidence to push for action.

"The observer work I have commissioned from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University is still going on, but I have seen enough to conclude there is a significant problem on which I am determined to act. But this is not solely a UK problem it is an EU-wide problem. If we are to get the action we need, we must raise awareness of this issue at that level.

"I already doing as much as I can to persuade the European Commission of the need to act and I am not going to let this issue drop. Those who are campaigning for the same cause can help, because not everyone in the EU realises there is a significant problem."

Mr Morley said that many British fishermen who were just as keen as he was to find a solution had supported the work being done in the UK.

The new nets are due to be trialled on trawlers in the sea bass fishery in March and April. They have separator grids within them about two thirds of the way along which allow fish to swim to the end but prevent dolphins from doing the same. At the top of these new nets there will be a flap, which acts as an escape hatch for dolphins.

Mr Morley said:

"I have already written to Franz Fischler offering details of these trials, urging him to prepare action, and pressing him to set up an EU observer programme to broaden the information.

"I am very hopeful that the trials will be successful. If they do identify a way of solving the problem through changes to fishing nets their use will have to be implemented at EU level for the sea bass fisheries where dolphin bycatch is a problem.

"If they don't work we will look at other measures. I do not rule out any approach at this stage including arguing for EU imposed restrictions on fishing, gear or seasonal closures."

---

Cetacean by-catch: action in hand

• Meaningful action to address the problem of cetacean bycatch will require action on the part of all the member states involved in the fisheries concerned, not just the UK. To convince them to act, it is important to have evidence.
• We have been collecting evidence. Sample surveys, by CEFAS in 2000 and by the Sea Mammal Research Unit in 2001 have produced compelling evidence of a significant problem in the bass fishery off South West England. The pair trawling teams monitored have caught dolphins at a rate a little in excess of one every two hauls. This is a cause for serious concern. There is no reason to suppose that fishing by vessels in other member states' fleets would have a lesser effect.
• Autopsies on dolphins stranded on the British coast show that a significant proportion of these have died as a result of entanglement in fishing gear.
• SMRU's work for us also involves testing possible mitigating measures. In 2001 acoustic deterrents (pingers), which have previously been found to be effective at deterring porpoises when used with fixed fishing gear (gill nets) were trialled in pair-trawl nets: unfortunately these were found not to have the same deterrent effect on dolphins when used in this way with mobile gear.
• This year, therefore, we are urgently funding SMRU to test separator grids during their monitoring work on this year's bass fishery. This is an adaptation to the trawl which enables dolphins that swim into the net to escape. Separator grids have been successful with sea lions in New Zealand. There is every reason to expect that the trial work will succeed in developing a version which will work effectively with dolphins. This work will take place in March/April 2002.
• The work on separator grids is important as it offers the possibility of a solution which will enable fishermen to continue pursuing the bass fishery. One way or another, a solution must now be found urgently. If separator grids are not successful, nothing, including fishery closures, should be ruled out.
• Whatever action is taken - by way of requiring the use of separator grids or whatever - will need to be taken at the EU level. This is because any UK requirements would apply only to UK fishermen: the vast majority of the fishermen pursuing the bass fishery are from other member states, so a UK measure would have no significant impact on the problem.
• Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley, has written to EU Fisheries Commissioner Fischler on 4 February. The letter explains the hard evidence that we have, urges the Commission to set up its own observer programme to broaden the information available and stresses to the Commissioner that urgent action will soon be needed at the EU level.
• We will now be preparing the way for action by briefing officials from the Commission and from other member states with an interest about the evidence we have and the state of progress on separator grids.
• Monitoring work is also continuing on the bass fishery and on other pelagic fisheries.

Sea Mammal Research Unit's observations so far show:

Target species	No. of dolphins	No. of hauls	No. of days at sea
Anchovy	0	3	3
Blue whiting	0	4	8
Herring	0	42	33
Mackerel	0	27	64
Pilchard	0	8	6
Sprats	0	10	10
Bass	53	116	71

Fisheries Division III
(Sea Fisheries Conservation)
DEFRA
21 February 2002

Page last modified: 7 March 2002

Top of the page