Unique collaboration between Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre Lenie 't Hart and the Dutch Fishery Union
Press bulletin, November 2006. Dead porpoises are increasingly being washed up along the shore of the Dutch coast. The results of a study, undertaken by the SRRC, show that 10 to 20 percent of all dead porpoises drown, because they are being caught in fishnets as by-catch. The SRRC has been carrying out autopsies on dead porpoises since 1982 and has been involved in over 1500 stranded-porpoise cases. Over 200 bodies have been examined thoroughly by the SRRC’s vets and pathologists. Over the years, they have detected a slight increase in the number of by-catch victims in fishnets. The SRRC is pleading for measures to prevent the porpoises from drowning in fishnets.
The Dutch Fishery Union, which represents the interests of the fishers, shares this objective. For this reason the Dutch Fishery Union and the SRRC have decided to collaborate in their study on by-catch involving porpoises. Professional fishers will also be included in this study. An objective determination of the causes will be the starting point of the Dutch Fishery Union and the SRRC’s study. This should lead to effectually diminishing or stopping the porpoises drowning in fishnets. The study will start this month and it is expected that the results will be announced in March 2007.
03-11-2006 Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart
