WRITTEN QUESTION P-2078/01

by Pat Gallagher (UEN) to the Commission

(3 July 2001)

Subject: Dolphin by-catch

According to a recent BBC report on dolphin by-catch, reported strandings of dolphins have increased 66 % this year. The programme pointed to some evidence that there could be a danger of the extinction of common dolphins as a direct result of pairtrawling.

Does the Commission have evidence to support such claims, and if so what mitigating measures could it envisage? Is the Commission aware that pairtrawling is already banned in some states, and has it considered proposing such a move within the context of integrating environmental concerns into the Common Fisheries Policy?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2001)

The Commission as such has no self-generated statistical evidence on this topic and thus cannot express any evaluation on reliability and accuracy of the statistics reported by the BBC. In fact it is the responsibility of Member States to monitor cetacean incidental catches and to enforce existing Community rules(1).

Furthermore, the Commission is not informed on criteria utilised to diagnose the cause of death of the stranded animals and, therefore, whether the increase in strandings of dolphins can be attributed to fishing activities, particularly pair trawling.

The Commission is aware that most of the studies on the state of conservation of small cetaceans point to the risk that by-catch of some species is attaining levels that might put at risk the sustainability of some cetacean populations (not species extinction). However, the relative contribution of different fishing methods to this problem as well as its extent is still to be fully quantified.

Nonetheless, the Commission has supported most of the scientific investigations on this problem. In particular, the most recent study on incidental catches of cetaceans in pelagic trawls of the Northeast Atlantic, published in Fisheries Research 41(3), state that the incidental capture of a marine mammal in a trawl fishery is a rare event.

So far there are few hypothesis about how cetacean by-catch in trawls occurs and consequently few suggestions about how to reduce it. Research proposals on cetaceans, are eligible for Community financial support under the 5th framework program for Community research, both within key action 5 of the Quality of Life Programme, and key action 3 of the Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development Programme, Sustainable Maríne Ecosystems.

The Commission is currently not considering a ban of pair trawling, since there are a range of different gear specifications and operational aspects (such as depth, speed, time of the day, soaktime, season, area, haulback speed, retrieval of the net etc.) that could have an influence on dolphin mortality. A complete ban of such fishing technique would not seem justified at this stage.

Nevertheless, the Commission is open to consider all the necessary measures to mitigate, and possibly eliminate, the incidental death of cetaceans in fishing activities. To this end the Directorate General for Fisheries, in co-operation with the Directorate General for the Environment, will organise a meeting of a subgroup of its Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, by the end of 2001, to have an up-to-date review of scientific evidence and to find solutions to tackle the problem.

(1) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.