BBC Wildlife - UK 2020-07)

(Antfer) #1

C


onservationistsarehopingnew
researchintotheeffectivenessof
‘pingers’– acousticdevicesthatdeter
cetaceansfromhuntingaroundfishing
nets– willpersuadetheUKGovernment
to liftitsbanontheiruseinsmallboats.
Themovecouldsavethelivesof
thousandsofharbourporpoisesand
dolphinsthatdrowneveryyearafter
gettingcaughtinfishingnets.
Thenewstudy,publishedinMay,found
thatnotonlywerepingerseffectivein
keepingporpoisesawayfromnets,but
thattheydidnotstoptheanimalsfrom
returningto feedwhenthe boats
hadmovedaway.
Accordingto Ruth
Williams,ofthe
CornwallWildlife
Trust,fishermen
inthevillage
ofMevagissey
wantto usethe
pingersbothto
savecetaceans’
livesbutalso
becauseit costs
time and money

to repairthenets.“In2017,wewere
approachedbythefishermenwhowanted
to stopbycatch,”Williamssays.“Wegave
themsomepingersandtheysoon realised
theywerehighlyeffective.”
Williamslaterlearnedthe
fishermenneededa licence
fromtheMarineManagement
Organisation(MMO),and
sheappliedforonein2018.
“Thelicencewasrefusedon
thegroundsthatthepingers
coulddisturba protected
speciesbyputtingnoiseintothe
environment,”Williamssays.
Accordingto Whale
andDolphin
Conservation
(WDC),morethan
1,000porpoisesalone
dieinUKgillnets


  • thetypeusedby
    theMevagissey
    fishery– every
    year.Pingerscould
    reducebycatch
    throughoutBritish
    waters and will not


displacethemfromimportantfeeding
orbreedinghabitats,it adds.
UnderEUrules,pingersare
mandatoryonvesselsmorethan12min
length– buttheyrepresentonly2 per
centofallboatsusingstatic
netssuchasgillnets.
DrRobertEneverofFishtek
Marine,whichmanufactures
thepingers,saysonesmall
boatcanbekittedoutforless
than£250.“TheGovernment
hasjustdesignatedfivenew
SpecialAreasofConservation
(SACs)forharbourporpoises,
butthere’snomanagement
ofthem,”hesays.“Oneof
thethingsyoucoulddois to
requirefisherswhointeractwithporpoise
intheseSACstousepingers.”
TheDepartmentofEnvironment,Food
andRuralAffairssaidina statement
thattheyweretryingto understandhow
pingerscouldbebestdeployedbutthatit
was“nota ‘onesizefits all’ situation”.JF

26 BBC Wildlife July 2020

WILDNEWS


Harbour porpoise: Jelger Herder/Buiten-beeld/Minden/FLPA; pinger: Fishtek/Whale and Dolphin Conservation

FINDOUTMORE
Frontiers in Marine Sciencebit.ly/37lnsjx

Accidentalentanglementofcetaceansis
reduced with acoustic alarms on shing nets.

MARINELIFE

D I D Y O U
KNOW?
Abouta thirdofstranded
dolphinsandporpoises
onCornishshores
in 2019 hadinjuries
consistentwithbycatch
orentanglementin
fishing gear.

Researchinto‘pingers’tostop


bycatch shows they are eective


Newstudyreveals
‘pingers’(below) keep
harbourporpoisesand
othercetaceansaway
fromfishingnetsand
reduce bycatch.
Free download pdf