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Driftnets Said Decimating Mediterranean Dolphins
Thu Nov 20, 8:13 AM ET
GENEVA (Reuters) - Driftnets are killing tens of thousands of dolphins
in
the Mediterranean despite bans on the fishing method by the European
Union
and United Nations, a major environmental group said on Thursday.
Yep another UN failure and for the first time tide to an EU failure.
These
people think all they have to do is say something is wrong and all of a
sudden it corrects its self.
A clear case where effective enforcement would be a positive.
Perhaps we should arm the dolphines
The Swiss-based WWF-International said fishermen from Italy, France,
Turkey
and Morocco -- and probably other countries -- were decimating the
dolphin
population as well as shark and turtle species by using the nets.
"Illegal driftnet fishing currently happening around the whole of the
Mediterranean results in a massive slaughter of vulnerable species,"
said
Paolo Guglielmi of the WWF's special program for the region.
WWF marine expert Simon Cripps said the only way to prevent the
slaughter
"is to make the Mediterranean a driftnet-free sea by enforcing a total
ban
on all driftnet fisheries." EU member states violating the ban should
be
prosecuted, the WWF said.
The body issued its statement in advance of a U.N.-sponsored
Diplomatic
Conference on Mediterranean Fisheries starting in Venice on November
25.
The 15-nation EU banned all driftnet fishing by member states from
January
1
last year and there has been a U.N. moratorium on large-scale
driftnets
since 1992.
The nets, aimed at catching fish varieties, stretch for anything
between
four to eight miles and entangle dolphins and other endangered marine
species, most of which die or have to be killed.
The WWF, formally known as the World Wide Fund for Nature, said the
Moroccan
driftnet fleet with 177 boats was "the most lethal for Mediterranean
marine
biodiversity," catching annually 3,000-4,000 of one threatened dolphin
variety alone in a south-western part of the sea.
This was more than one tenth of the dolphin population of the area,
known
as
the Alboran sea.
The WWF said the Italian driftnet fleet, which had 700 boats in the
early
1990s, still had nearly 100 boats that had not been adapted despite
restructuring subsidies from the EU.
France still had 75 boats that did not comply with the Brussels ban,
the
WWF
said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=1&u=/nm/20031
120/sc_nm/environment_dolphins_dc
--
During the last election cycle, while Frist headed the NRSC, the
health
care
industry increased its contributions to Republican candidates to just
under
$ 4 million and became the largest industry contributor to the party.
"If you look at the money involved, it would be easy to say the
medical
industry has bought itself a Senator and, now, a Senate," says
Harleigh.
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_1470.shtml
.
