Environment
Animal rights activists in France: protests against dolphin deaths
Protesters are pushing for safer practices in the fishing industry to better protect dolphins from deadly fishing nets. photo
© Christophe Ena/AP/dpa
The protesters are demanding that fishing be restricted. Her action follows a macabre incident a few days earlier. The EU Commission is also committed to protecting animals.
Animal rights activists have demonstrated in Paris against the mass death of dolphins off the coast of France. With 400 life-size photos of live and dead dolphins, members of the animal protection organization LPO protested in front of Invalidendom on Wednesday. With the action they wanted to emphasize the demand for a restriction on fishing, said LPO. Dolphins often end up in fishing nets as by-catch and then suffocate because they can no longer come to the surface of the water to breathe.
The protest followed just days after the macabre discovery of a mutilated dolphin with a hate message to Sea Shepherd France etched into its body. The organization recently resumed observation trips along the coast to keep an eye on the fishermen’s practices. She suspects Fischer is behind the mutilation of the dolphin and has offered a reward of 10,000 euros for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
EU Commission puts pressure on France
According to the latest census by the French marine mammal observatory Pelagis, 395 dead marine mammals, mostly dolphins, were discovered off the Atlantic coast between December 1 and February 15. 40 carcasses washed up on the English Channel coast. Most of the dead dolphins had marks left by fishing nets. The number of dolphins killed has increased since 2016. This is probably due to changes in fishing practices. Pelagis also said the stocks of small fish the dolphins feed on appear to have shifted.
At the instigation of animal rights activists, the EU Commission had already put pressure on France to better protect the dolphins. At the end of last year, 213 fishing boats were ordered to use experimental acoustic devices to keep the dolphins at bay. As the LPO organization announced, according to a report by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) published in early February, the only effective measure is to suspend the relevant fishing practices in the risk areas during the winter months.