EIA has identified 15 populations of cetaceans (the collective term for whales, dolphins and porpoises) that are threatened due to bycatch in European waters – especially among harbour porpoises, with an estimated 35,000 deaths each year, mainly in static fishing nets. The level of bycatch in European waters is so serious that several populations of cetaceans are endangered and face potential extinction despite binding legal requirements to adequately protect them.
EIA is currently participating in a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which is seeking to push ahead with actions to tackle two major sources of marine plastic pollution – plastic pellets and fishing gear
Plastics are ubiquitous in wild-capture fisheries and aquaculture, polluting land and sea, causing navigational hazards, blighting the coastal landscape and impacting communities and tourism when it washes ashore while often continuing to entangle and kill marine species as well as contaminating seafood for human consumption.
‘Ghost gear’ is fishing gear which has been abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded at sea and is widely regarded as one of the most harmful forms of plastic marine debris.
A global treaty (i.e. convention) on plastics will require financial resources to achieve its objectives, and many models exist in other multilateral environmental agreements from which lessons can be taken.
Successful and highly significant rescue of an endangered Arabian Sea humpback whale entangled in fishing gear