Scientists of the Zoological Society of London confirm that the common bottlenose dolphin found on Lancing beach, UK, last month had injuries consistent with bycatch. The young female had been in good nutritional shape, but notches on its beak and impressions along its body were consistent with marks from fishing nets.
A Brighton Dolphin Project manager declared the indiscriminate fishing methods were the main threat and “responsible for thousands of dolphin deaths”. The biggest problem for cetaceans stemmed from the bigger ships and trawlers in the channel that fished offshore – the areas where common dolphins spend their time hunting. The smaller fishing vessels, on the other hand, stayed closer to the shore where the dolphin population is less dense and are thus less problematic. There are already some laws in place that require fishing vessels larger than 12 metres to “fit pingers to some nets to drive away marine life with sounds”. However, with the number of dead bottlenose dolphins increasing during the last two months, the Marine Management Organisation will have to “continue to work with the fishing industry to reduce the bycatch of dolphins”.
The story has been covered here: https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18253654.dead-dolphin-found-lancing-beach-killed-trawler/
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