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Dolphins and porpoises are dying in hundreds, maybe thousands, in fishing nets around the UK. The awful spectacle of dead dolphins on our beaches will continue unless more action is taken.
The death of dolphins and porpoises in fishing nets is not only a conservation issue, but also a critical welfare matter. As panic sets in, the trapped dolphins thrash around in their struggle to surface for air. It is common for dolphins to suffer many broken teeth, their beaks, jaws and fins are torn in their furious attempt to break free from the net. Eventually they will run out of air, suffocate and die.
The bass trawl fishery has killed an estimated 67,500 common dolphins in the last 15 years. The dolphins are trapped and killed in nets dragged at high speed through the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay during December, January, February and March. Hundreds more dolphins will die this winter, and Dolphin Care UK and The Wildlife Trusts believe that the only solution is to ban this form of fishing until possible solutions or alternative measures have been fully trialed and researched.
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How you can Help Dolphin Care UK? We urgently need your help in our campaign to stop dolphin deaths in fishing nets.
More whales, dolphins and porpoises die every year by getting entangled in fishing gear than from any other threat. Small whales, dolphins and porpoises are most vulnerable because they generally aren't strong enough to break free and come to the surface to breathe. For these smaller cetaceans, entanglement can cause death by drowning.
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Urgent action is needed to change fishing practices. The cost of bycatch to the ocean ecosystems is immense, and fisheries with substantial levels of bycatch are clearly neither acceptable nor sustainable.
Visit our site and help us put a stop to the deaths of our beautiful dolphins.
By: Chris Lowes - Dolphin Care UK
www.dolphincareuk.org
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