09/06/2005 – Nine dolphin
and porpoise populations around the world
need immediate action if they are to survive
the threat of entanglement in fishing gear.
These are the findings of a new WWF report
based on a first-ever assessment by leading
marine scientists.
According to WWF, bycatch – the capture in
fishing gear of unwanted fish and other species
– is one of the greatest global threats facing
dolphins, porpoises, as well as whales.
When caught in fishing nets, many of these
cetaceans, which need to come to the surface
for air, get trapped underwater and die.
Previous estimates show that more than 300,000
cetaceans are killed in fishing gear each
year in the world’s oceans.
The report indicates these dolphins and porpoises
as languishing without attention, but stresses
they could recover if changes to fishing methods
and other conservation efforts were made.
They include harbour porpoises in the Black
Sea, where thousands of porpoises are killed
each year; Atlantic humpback dolphins off
the coast of West Africa; Irrawaddy dolphins
in South East Asia; and Franciscana dolphins
in South America.
Most of the species on the list are threatened
by the widespread use of one type of fishing
gear – gillnets. These nets are difficult
for dolphins and porpoises to spot visually
or detect with their sonar, so they may become
tangled in the netting or in the ropes attached
to the nets.
“Almost 1,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises
die every day in nets and fishing gear. That’s
one every two minutes," said Dr Susan
Lieberman, Director of WWF's Global Species
Programme. "Some species are being pushed
to the brink of extinction. Urgent action
is needed - and we developed this ranking
to help governments and aid agencies know
where their money and efforts can really make
a difference."
For example, between 1993 and 2003, fisheries
in the United States introduced changes, such
as modifications of fishing gear, that reduced
cetacean bycatch to one-third of its previous
levels.
But so far, few of these successful measures
have been transferred to other countries,
and in much of the rest of the world, progress
to reduce bycatch has been slow or nonexistent.
"Rather than simply identifying the
species or populations at greatest risk, or
the geographical locations where the bycatch
problem is most severe, the group of scientists
was asked to emphasize where the prospects
for successful intervention were especially
good," said Dr Randall Reeves, lead author
of the report and the chairman of the IUCN
Species Survival Commission’s Cetacean Specialist
Group.
The report will be submitted to the International
Whaling Commission’s scientific committee
at its annual meeting next week in the Republic
of Korea.
The scientific committee last year endorsed
the methodology of the WWF report.
NOTE:
Species and populations designated in the
report as among the top priorities for investment
of resources are:
Irrawaddy dolphins in the crab net/trap fishery
in Malampaya Sound, Philippines
Irrawaddy dolphins in gillnets in the Mekong,
Mahakam and Ayeyarwady rivers and in Chilka
and Songkhla lakes, Southeast Asia
Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and Indo-Pacific
bottlenose dolphins in drift and bottom-set
gillnets on the south coast of Zanzibar (Tanzania)
Harbour porpoises in coastal gillnets in
the Black Sea
Spinner dolphins and Fraser’s dolphins in
large-mesh driftnets and purse seines in the
Philippines
Atlantic humpback dolphins in coastal gillnets
in the northern Gulf of Guinea (Ghana, Togo)
Burmeister’s porpoises in artisanal gillnets
in Peru
Franciscana dolphins in coastal gillnets
in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil
Commerson’s dolphins in coastal gillnets
and midwater trawls in Argentina
