:? :cry: Hello,

I also belong to Sea Anglers' Conservation Network (SACN).

I recieved an e-mail notifying me of the first of this winters dolphins has been washed up on the Devon coast dead.

Is there anything you can do too help stop or reduce further this unacceptable problem?





DOLPHIN CARCASS SIGNALS START OF WINTER CARNAGE



11:00 - 19 November 2004 the first dolphin victim of the new bass fishing season has been found washed up on a West Country beach. Campaigners fighting for the welfare of cetaceans say the carcass is sad proof that new regulations on bass fisheries will have little impact on the widespread slaughter of dolphins and porpoises.



Every year, hundreds of dead cetaceans are washed up on shores around Devon and Cornwall - caught in the huge nets trawled between two vessels in a method of fishing mostly used by French and Scottish boats known as bass pair trawling.



The female common dolphin came in with high tide at Leasfoot Beach, Thurlestone, South Devon, at 9am on Wednesday.



Lindy Hingley, founder member of Brixham Seawatch, which has fiercely campaigned against bass pair trawling, said signs indicated the dolphin had met its death in a trawling net. Scuffed fins, marks on the body and broken teeth all showed she had struggled to break free.



Ms Hingley said campaigners had hoped a ban on bass pair trawling inside a 12 mile range off Britain's shorelines would halt the dolphin deaths.



"That's all Ben Bradshaw could do and we hoped it would make a difference," she said. "But lots of them are caught outside that 12-mile limit.



"Defra police our waters very well, but they can't be everywhere. A lot of these guys fish under the cover of darkness. Essentially they can go where they like."



She said dolphin populations were reduced by up to 10,000 each year.



"The only hope for the dolphins is to ban bass pair trawling unilaterally - that means stopping the French boats," she said.



"Of course that's going to be difficult, but it doesn't matter because it's got to be done."



She said a dolphin caught in a net would experience panic and make a desperate bid to escape, often with the screams of other dolphins surrounding it.



"These mammals are so well-adapted to underwater life, it takes about 20 minutes for them to die in this way. Their organs rupture - that's what kills them. I've asked experts what they would experience and the response was 'unimaginable pain'."



Yesterday staff at Thurlestone Golf Club retrieved the carcass from the beach, ready for collection by the Natural History Museum, who took it away for autopsy.



Green keeper Henry Yeoman said the carcass was just one of about 20 he had come across in the last five years. "It's always very upsetting," he said. "Many of them are in much worse states than the one we found here. This one's probably only been dead for three days.



"I've seen cases where their fins and tails have been cut off. Once I found one with a two-foot steak cut out of its back.



"Sometimes you see them swimming up and jumping in the water and it's fantastic.



"It's not right to see them like this."



Ms Hingley praised the work of golf club staff, and other volunteers who made it possible for her to retrieve the carcasses and send them off for autopsy.



The golf club's secretary, Terry Gibbons, said: "We are always willing to help out in whatever way we can."



lvennells@westernmorningnews.co.uk



I have borrowed this from the a link I found on the

Sea Anglers' Conservation Network (SACN)

I realy think that it is time we took stock and all agreed on a plan to stop the slaughter of all marine life.

Jobs will be lost. Words will be said. But as with any other job, if it isn't viable, you have to get another one.

With proper management it might not come to this.

Management might mean keeping our European cousens out as well for a while!

One thing I am sure of,is that time is running out, for some of our once common sea life.
[Rep]

You can be sure of one thing. If UKIP got INTO phpbb_power, we would stop all these other countries raping our oceans, and work hard on putting measures in place to restore fish stocks, and any other creatures that are being decimated by EU policy.

If dolphins are being killed by a certain kind of fishing, then in this day and age we must be able to work out a solution to prevent this from happening. I am no expert though, but I am sure UKIP would be sympathetic to your cause in it's overall review of fishing policy.
[Rep]

Originally Posted by :
If dolphins are being killed by a certain kind of fishing

Perhaps the point is that the Bass are. Like 'dolphin friendly Tuna' - lets face it, it ain't very Tuna friendly. I tried in all the supermarkets but was unable to purchase a can of 'Tuna friendly dolphin'.

ALL animals / fish etc have rights, and if we believe a certain form of fishing is cruel to one breed then by inference it must be cruel to the other. Implying that one species is in some way inferior to another to salve conscience pangs is immoral.

I'm not a vegetarian. I accept that what i eat brings pain and suffering to animals - but do not kid myself that just because its 'only' Tuna, or Bass, or Chicken (rather than Whale, Dolphin or Eagle) that its alright.
[Rep]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1811

Originally Posted by :
A school of dolphins came to the rescue of four New Zealand swimmers under threat from an horrific shark attack. The dolphins circled protectively around the group to fend off the great white shark which was closing in.
Lifesavers Rob Howes, his 15-year-old daughter Niccy, Karina Cooper and Helen Slade were oblivious to the threat as they swam off Ocean Beach on New Zealand's North Island when the dolphins began to herd them - apparently to protect them from the looming shark.

"They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us," Mr Howes told reporters.

Mr Howes tried to drift away from the group, but two of the bigger dolphins herded him back just as he spotted a nine-foot great white shark swimming towards the group.

"I just recoiled. It was only about 2m away from me, the water was crystal clear and it was as clear as the nose on my face," Howes said.

"They had corralled us up to protect us," he said.

You just don't get as many "Haddock saved my life" stories these days. I think that it is a fair comment that some marine life is more intelligent than others. Whether that influences your judgement on their relative "rights" is up to you of course.
[Rep]

So we judge cruelty on the sentience of those affected do we?

Beating up a moron is more acceptable than beating up a genius?

I wold argue a cow may be more sentient than a dolphin - yet we slaughter cows horribly and regularly.

Just because dolphins have a happy smile does not mean they are any more worthy than any other creature.

I like dolphins - we should respect them and avoid cruelty BUT apply this equally to all living creatures.
[Rep]

Originally Posted by :
So we judge cruelty on the sentience of those affected do we?

I didn't say that we should, but some people do. :-) I have certainly heard the argument that it is OK to eat fish because "they are so stupid".
[Rep]

I thought that the absence of "Haddock saved my life" stories was a more convincing argument................... :-)
[Rep]

Originally Posted by mkpdavies:
You can be sure of one thing. If UKIP got INTO phpbb_power, we would stop all these other countries raping our oceans, and work hard on putting measures in place to restore fish stocks, and any other creatures that are being decimated by EU policy.

Oh yes. The old UKIP "the EU is the root of all evil" policy. :roll:

So, could you please explain quite how the United Kingdom Independence Party plans to encourage the French, the Spanish, et al to use different methods of fishing without participating in the Common Fisheries Policy of the EU and having power only over national waters?

One thing which seems to have been conveniently forgotten in that statement above is that neither dolphins nor fish, for rather obvious reasons, don't take too much attention to a line on a map as to whether they are in British waters, French waters or international waters.

As such, the only way you can genuinely deal with the problem is to work with all the countries which are fishing in a particular area of ocean and to jointly agree a solution to the problem which can then take affect for all vessels that use those countries' ports.

That is a much more effective use of time and resources, leaving the European Union as a good forum through which to negotiate such an agreement.
[Rep]

If UKIP were in power then at least the dolphins would have a better chance in our waters. Obviously we would hope to work with our French friends to help them see the light too, but at the end of the day that is Frances choice.

The EU hasn't solved any problems what-so-ever. Indeed it has made things ten times worse, and doesn't look like making it any better. Why do you assume that handing over all decisions to a chaotic bureaucracy
, that is more interested in sharing out quota's of fish to nations that are not even near the sea, than have any concern for the fish or the local communities, that have fished the waters with no problems for centuries.

Have you ever worked for a large company, bigger does not alway mean better.
[Rep]

Originally Posted by :
So, could you please explain quite how the United Kingdom Independence Party plans to encourage the French, the Spanish, et al to use different methods of fishing without participating in the Common Fisheries Policy of the EU and having power only over national waters?

Under UKIP we wouldn't be in the CFP, and all foreign fishing fleets would be banned from British waters. We can then make our own rules for net sizes and quotes. 80% of EU fushing quotas are caught in British waters. End of problem.
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