- GENEVA (Reuters) -- Driftnets
are killing tens of thousands of dolphins in the Mediterranean despite
bans on the fishing method by the European Union and United Nations, a
major environmental group said on Thursday.
-
- The Swiss-based WWF-International said fishermen from
Italy, France, Turkey and Morocco -- and probably other countries -- were
decimating the dolphin population as well as shark and turtle species by
using the nets.
-
- "Illegal driftnet fishing currently happening around
the whole of the Mediterranean results in a massive slaughter of vulnerable
species," said Paolo Guglielmi of the WWF's special program for the
region.
-
- WWF marine expert Simon Cripps said the only way to prevent
the slaughter "is to make the Mediterranean a driftnet-free sea by
enforcing a total ban on all driftnet fisheries." EU member states
violating the ban should be prosecuted, the WWF said.
-
- The body issued its statement in advance of a U.N.-sponsored
Diplomatic Conference on Mediterranean Fisheries starting in Venice on
November 25.
-
- The 15-nation EU banned all driftnet fishing by member
states from January 1 last year and there has been a U.N. moratorium on
large-scale driftnets since 1992.
-
- The nets, aimed at catching fish varieties, stretch for
anything between four to eight miles and entangle dolphins and other endangered
marine species, most of which die or have to be killed.
-
- The WWF, formally known as the World Wide Fund for Nature,
said the Moroccan driftnet fleet with 177 boats was "the most lethal
for Mediterranean marine biodiversity," catching annually 3,000-4,000
of one threatened dolphin variety alone in a south-western part of the
sea.
-
- This was more than one tenth of the dolphin population
of the area, known as the Alboran sea.
-
- The WWF said the Italian driftnet fleet, which had 700
boats in the early 1990s, still had nearly 100 boats that had not been
adapted despite restructuring subsidies from the EU.
-
- France still had 75 boats that did not comply with the
Brussels ban, the WWF said.
-
- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=3861189
|
