The French government has been ordered to ban fishing on parts of its west coast, fearing the common dolphin is in “grave danger” of extinction.
The Pelagis Oceanographic Institute has estimated that nearly 1,000 dolphins have washed up on the country’s Atlantic coast this winter due to “accidental capture while fishing”.
France’s judicial body, the Council of State, has given government officials six months to ban fishing in parts of the Bay of Biscay and better protect common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and harbor porpoises.
Government-affiliated scientists estimate around 10,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed each year in this western French sea area alone – up from 18,000 deaths last year.
The deaths are mainly blamed on industrial fishing and although the council’s intervention was welcomed by conservationists, campaigners said they ‘hope it’s not too late’ to save many animals.
Experts also said the dolphins changed their breeding patterns to give birth more quickly – a recognized sign before the extinction.
Several species are now in an “unfavorable conservation” state with the common dolphin and harbor porpoise in “grave danger of extinction” in the region, officials said.
Controversial fishing methods involve French nets, sometimes 31 miles long, trawling the ocean for ordinary fish, indiscriminately attracting a full range of sea creatures.
Autopsies performed on some dolphins have revealed extreme levels of mutilation.
Activists said it was common for fishermen to cut off body parts from suffocated dolphins after they became entangled in the nets so they could salvage their gear.
Lamya Essemlali, from Sea Shepherd France, a group that has campaigned for trawlers and boats to stop their deadly practices, said: “Of course this decision is a beacon of hope for us, but it is bittersweet. .
“So many dolphins are already dead, we see dead creatures washed up every day. Hope it’s not too late.”
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Dolphins in the area are already behaving in a scientifically consistent way with a dying population, conservation groups have said.
“Dolphins have already changed their reproductive pattern – they give birth faster. This is a sign just before extinction,” Ms Essemlali added.
The French authorities have been under pressure for several years do more to prevent the high mortality rate of sea creatures – and have been criticized for not introducing tougher measures.
