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Meet the 2023 Interns: Kaylee McKenna

I'm excited to introduce Kaylee McKenna as WDC's summer Marine Mammal Conservation Intern. Kaylee has...
Lasting legacies

Lasting Legacies: Orca Action Month 2023

Each June we celebrate Orca Month and the unique community of Southern Resident orcas, and this...
North Atlantic right whale - Peter Flood

Whale AID 2023: A Night of Music and Hope for North Atlantic Right Whales

The inaugural Whale AID concert to support Whale and Dolphin Conservation's (WDC's) work to protect...
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Meet the 2023 Interns: Thomas Zoutis

I'm happy to introduce WDC's first Marine Mammal Conservation Intern of the year, Thomas Zoutis!...
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Double Your Impact for Marine Animal Rescue & Response

On a chilly day this past December, the WDC North America team celebrated the first...
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WDC’s Education Wishlist = Cleared!

To the WDC Community, I want to thank you so much for your support of...
Hysazu Photography

Looking forward for Southern Resident orcas in 2023

Hysazu Photography 2022 was a big year for Southern Resident orcas - 2022 brought the...
Credit: Seacoast Science Center

The Unlikely Adventure of Shoebert, a Young Grey Seal Who Visited an Industrial Park Pond

Credit: Seacoast Science Center In mid-September, our stranding partners in northern Massachusetts were inundated with...

Opportunity lost in EU Ministers bycatch vote

On Tuesday there was an important vote in the European Parliament Fisheries Committee about fisheries conservation measures including future bycatch measures for dolphins, porpoises and whales. Here is a summary of what happened in the vote on bycatch

The existing (inadequate) rules for monitoring and mitigating dolphin and porpoise bycatch remain intact for now and most importantly, efforts by some MEPs to remove existing bycatch measures in the Baltic Sea and South Western Waters (off Spain and Portugal) were rejected. Both of these regions contain genetically distinct and declining populations of harbour porpoises, due to being incidentally caught in fishing gear, so they need all the protection that they can get. Both porpoise populations are in a perilous state and are in desperate need of better protection from fishing nets, so fending off efforts to remove existing, wholly inadequate protection seem to me like a very hollow victory. 

Bycatch measures that the Commission proposed for the >12 metre fishing vessels deploying static fishing gear in the Mediterranean and Black Sea to use acoustic deterrent devices to scare marine mammals away from nets also remain intact.

However, this was a real lost opportunity for the EU Fisheries Ministers to improve the existing bycatch measures and to expand the measures to include other protected species that die in large numbers in some European fisheries, such as seals and seabirds. Further, efforts to consider the welfare implications of bycatch were rejected. The requirement under the EU Habitats Directive is to offer dolphins, porpoises and whales “strict protection” and yet, existing bycatch laws are certainly not protecting them adequately. 

There was a general and serious weakening of language throughout the file for all fisheries measures, and a very disappointing move away from science and conservation. Here’s what our colleagues at Seas at RiskClientEarth and Bird Life had to say about the proposed new rules.

In a lucky twist, at the end of the session, the Fisheries Committee surprisingly voted for the adopted report to be presented to European Parliament Plenary for a vote, so we very much welcome this additional level of transparency and a further opportunity for engagement. The outcome of the Plenary vote will then form the basis of future trilogue negotiations.

Overall, this was a dark day for Europe’s marine environment. I hope some improvements can be made at Plenary because too many species needlessly die in fishing gear every year.

Please support our work to end the needless deaths of whales and dolphins in fishing gear and nets.