25/02/2005– Park rangers
in Cambodia’s Srepok Wilderness area apprehended
four fishermen suspected of killing a critically
endangered Irrawaddy dolphin. The four fishermen
were caught using the destructive practice
of dynamite fishing in the Srepok River,
which inadvertently killed the dolphin.
WWF-Cambodia, has been working closely
with the Cambodian Forestry Administration
to manage and protect the 370,000ha Srepok
Wilderness Area, is advocating that the
fishermen are prosecuted for the dolphin
killing.
“I’m proud that rangers were able to play
a part in catching these suspects,” said
Teak Seng, WWF-Cambodia’s country director.
“The court action against the four is an
example of Cambodia’s strong commitment
to wildlife protection.”
The Srepok Wilderness Area in eastern Cambodia
is home to many endangered fish species,
mammals and birds. Ironically, the death
of the dolphin is the first evidence that
the rare species survives in Srepok River,
from which the Irrawaddy was thought to
have disappeared more than a decade ago.
The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris)
recently received protection under the United
Nations Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES), so that they can no longer
be removed from the wild for sale to aquariums
and dolphin shows.
“Their survival continues to be threatened
by high rates of death from drowning in
fishing nets, not only in Cambodia, but
everywhere they are found, from Australia
to India to the Philippines,” Seng added
There is no recent global population estimate
for Irrawaddy dolphins, but there has been
a decline across their range and are likely
to number fewer than 1,000 in Southeast
Asia.
WWF and the Cambodian government are working
together to address the key threats in the
Srepok landscape through strengthened protected
area management, integrated landscape planning,
and improved community livelihoods, including
ecotourism development.
Notes:
• Fisheries bycatch is one of the greatest
and most pervasive threats to the marine
environment. Some 300,000 small whales,
dolphins, and porpoises die each year as
a result of becoming entangled in fishing
gear, and more than 250,000 loggerhead and
leatherback marine turtles are caught annually
by commercial longline fisheries.
• WWF estimates that six cetacean species
may disappear in the next decade because
of fishing gear entanglement. There are
probably fewer than 100 Maui's dolphins
left in New Zealand because of high entanglement
rates in set nets and by pair trawlers.
Similar threats have dramatically reduced
populations of the Vaquita dolphin in the
Gulf of California, the Harbour porpoise
in the Baltic Sea, and the Irrawaddy dolphin
in the Philippines.
