20/06/2005 - 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.
