Posts by Sarah Dolman
WDC visits European Parliament to stop dolphins and porpoises dying in fishing gear!
This week WDC was proud to co-host an event in the European Parliament in Brussels. Led by our friends at Birdlife, the event was a great opportunity to highlight the massive issue of seabirds, marine mammals and turtles dying in fishing gear in European waters. We talked to MEPs about the scale of the problem…
Read MoreA UK manifesto for whales and dolphins
Ahead of the UK’s general election on 8th June, WDC recommends three achievable and critical steps to directly improve the welfare and protection of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the next Parliament. These recommendations include the UK continuing to lead international action to end commercial whaling. For decades, the UK has been a leading voice for…
Read MoreBycatch – back on the agenda
You have likely seen in the media that common dolphins are washing ashore, dead, in droves in the southwest of England this winter. Not all of them have been caught in fishing nets accidentally, but some of them have. They are washing ashore elsewhere in the north east Atlantic too, including in large numbers in…
Read MoreNew Scottish porpoise MPA is great! But more work to be done…
WDC is delighted that the first Scottish harbour porpoise Special Area of Conservation in the Inner Hebrides and the Minches has been designated by Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Roseanna Cunningham. This is a tremendous campaign success for us and we’d like to thank the thousands of WDC supporters who got involved and urged the Scottish…
Read MoreScratching the surface: Risso’s dolphin fieldwork at Lewis, Scotland
A guest blog by Dr Caroline Weir, who joined WDC in the field in Scotland this month. The waters surrounding the Eye Peninsula near Stornoway on the north-east coast of Lewis have long been known to be one of the most important regions in the UK for Risso’s dolphins. I first observed Risso’s dolphins in…
Read MoreFuture fishing rules must include better bycatch monitoring and reduction
Future fishing rules in European waters, like elsewhere in the world, need to include transparent management and better mitigation of marine life bycatch – for all countries, whether or not they are part of the EU. WDC are calling for a clear, effective strategy to identify the steps that are required by all countries that…
Read MoreEuropean fishing continues to threaten dolphins and porpoises
Fishing activities involving pelagic trawling and static net fisheries may be incidentally killing more common dolphins than their populations can sustain in European waters. Despite being shocking, this is not new news. From data collected in 2014, ICES (the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas) reports that bycatch of cetaceans has been observed in…
Read MoreEU moves to reduce cetacean bycatch, with full support of experts
An important Resolution calling for better monitoring and mitigation of porpoises, dolphins, seals and whales being caught in fishing gear (or bycatch) was approved at the European Cetacean Society (ECS) conference in Madeira this week. The ECS bycatch Resolution was initiated and drafted by WDC, with input from regional cetacean and bycatch experts. It follows…
Read MorePorpoiseful protection?
WDC warmly welcome the news that JNCC, Defra, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Government and Department of Environment, Northern Ireland are taking an important step towards designating five harbour porpoise Special Areas of Conservation! Big congratulations to all the agencies involved. But almost 20 years on from our first call for porpoise Special Areas…
Read MoreUS to reduce bycatch associated with imported fish products
Since 1972, the US Marine Mammal Protection Act has (on paper) strictly banned the import of fish and fish products caught in fishing gear that kills or seriously injures marine mammals “in excess of United States standards.” While the US federal agency, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has implemented this long-standing provision for yellowfin tuna…
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