Dramatic footage here of a Dolphin caught in a trawl in the Biscay area off the French coast and the efforts to try to dislodge it. The footage filmed by Sea Shepherd France who are monitoring the Biscay fishery where hundreds of Dolphins are caught and discarded as ‘bycatch’.
French enforcement officials from the Gendarmerie Maritime and the French Navy are deployed in the area plus a French naval aircraft however they are keeping tabs on Sea Shepherd (Fr) not stopping the slaughter.
While comparatively small trawlers like this caught in the act can try to free the mammal those caught in the massive nets of super trawlers such as the half dozen or so currently working the seas west of Kerry in Ireland have no chance and once taken on board are simply thrown overboard dead back into the ocean. Even those that escape the nets often wash up later dead the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has reported a spike in such incidents since super trawlers have been working off the West coast of Ireland, Similar evidence was gathered last years as trawlers worked the mackerel fishery off the South coast of England and Cornwall.
Some of these species are protected under EU environmental laws but enforcement as here tends to target the environmentalists not the trawlers.
The video has French commentary and subtitles but you can see what is happening all to graphically:
https://www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdFrance/videos/485229739062136/
Image: Sea Shepherd (Fr) screenshot.
Bernard Moffatt
Assistant General Secretary Celtic League (27 January 2020)
