Conservationists say cherished creatures such as whales, dolphins and seabirds are being killed in large numbers by fishing tackle
The analysis, by the Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of voluntary conservation groups, reveals the devastating toll bycatch, the accidental capture and killing of non-target species by fishing vessels, is having on marine species.
The “shocking” scale of annual deaths in the report, Hidden in the haul: The true scale of bycatch is likely to be “the tip of the iceberg”, it said, as only a fraction of the UK fishing fleet monitor bycatch. Only 0.05% of dredging vessels monitor this. They, like the bottom trawlers exposed in the recent David Attenborough film Oceans, drag heavy gear across the sea floor and are known for doing damage to marine life on the sea bed. Non-UK vessels operating in UK waters were not included in the data.
The deaths estimated in the report, which were extrapolated from datasets on bycatch and discard numbers, were more than 1,000 harbour porpoises and common dolphins killed annually, 10,000 seabirds and 500 seals. Six humpback whales and 30 minke whales were also found dead in Scottish creel ropes. Over 1,000 endangered Atlantic salmon and 120 tonnes of protected sharks, skates and rays are also caught and killed as bycatch by commercial fishing vessel every year.
