EU bid to evade driftnet ban likely to kill thousands of dolphins

Posted on June, 20 2005

As driftnet fishing is a menace to the lives of dolphins and other species living in the Mediterranean, WWF is urging the EU to plug a loophole in its anti-driftnet legislation to prevent a return of this practice in the Mediterranean.

Gland, Switzerland - A failure to plug a loophole in the European Union’s anti-driftnet legislation will result in the return of driftnet fishing to the Mediterranean, and is likely to cause the death of thousands of dolphins and other species, warns WWF.

According to the global conservation organization, already between 3,000 and 4,000 striped and short-beaked common dolphins – a threatened species – are estimated to be caught every year in the Alboran Sea (southwestern Mediterranean) alone as illegal driftnet fishing continues unchecked.

WWF urges EU Fisheries Ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, to amend the loophole in the Mediterranean Fisheries Regulation, which creates a new category of floating-gillnets. These so-called “anchored floating gillnets” would be allowed to catch tuna and similar fish species, at present banned for driftnet fishing.

But, according to WWF, this is an attempt to disguise driftnet fishing under another name. WWF says that modified driftnets, even when re-labelled “anchored floating gillnets”, are nothing more than large scale driftnet gear which targets large fish like tuna, and are therefore illegal.

“In some cases, anchors have been added to driftnets in order to circumvent the driftnet ban," said Paolo Guglielmi at WWF's Mediterranean Programme. “This cosmetic modification does not change the legal status of the gear, or the damage it does.”

Driftnets can be more than 10km long. According to a recent WWF report, about 23,000 sharks are captured as bycatch annually by the Moroccan driftnet fleet in the Alboran Sea, and another 77,500 are caught in neighbouring areas. Under the current legal framework, this driftnetting activity is a form of pirate fishing.

WWF believes the only valid way to prevent the driftnet fleets from massacring dolphins, sharks, and other marine species, and destroying the livelihoods derived from the legal fishing of tuna and tuna-like species in the Mediterranean is to enforce the total ban on all driftnetting in the region.

“EU Fisheries Ministers must stop this attempt to authorize the use of large-scale driftnets in the Mediterranean, or risk undermining management and conservation agreements put in place by governments in the region over the past 10 years,” said Dr Simon Cripps, Director of WWF's Global Marine Programme.

END NOTES:
• Two major associations of Italian fishermen have committed not to use anchored floating net gears for all the species protected by the current driftnet ban.They confirmed their position by signing a written committment with WWF on Friday, 17 June 2005.

For further information:
Sarah Bladen, Communications Manager
WWF Global Marine Programme
Tel: +41 22 364 9019

Brian Thomson, Press Officer
WWF International
Tel: +41 22 364 9562
E-mail: bthomson@wwfint.org

Drift net fishing in the Mediterranean Sea.