Dolpin (14) Flashcards
(30 cards)
- What does REM stand for in the context of bycatch monitoring?
- Why do we want it so badly?
- Remote Electronic Monitoring
- REM is proposed to improve the effectiveness of bycatch monitoring and hold destructive fishing vessels accountable.
What campaign is associated with the effort to protect dolphins from supertrawler nets?
Dolphins Aren’t Discard campaign
- In 2023, how many marine conservation organizations co-signed a letter from the World Cetacean Alliance to MPs in Sussex?
- What was the letter about?
- 39 different organisations
- The letter urged MPs to enforce legislation preventing dolphin deaths.
What was the response from the government minister regarding supertrawlers and bycatch reporting?
The response was inadequate and repetitive, repeating the tired old statment that “vessels are required to report bycatch.”
- What’s a key role of the Marine Managment Organisation (MMO)?
- In 2023, what issue was raised regarding it?
- The Marine Managment Organisation is the group that supertrawlers have to report their by-catch data to.
- But the MMO reported that data on supertrawler bycatch did not exist.
- Name a group that monitors supertrawlers for by-catch.
- How often do they monitor supertrawlers?
- What is the consequence of limited monitoring on UK fishing vessels?
- The Sea Mammal Research Unit
- They monitor supertrawlers 4-5 times a year.
- Under-reporting of bycatch
Monitoring only a few trips each year is insufficient to ensure accurate reporting.
What is the primary concern regarding the monitoring of supertrawlers (Hint: non-UK)?
There is no monitoring of larger, non-UK-flagged supertrawlers
True or False: The UK government has a legal duty to prevent bycatch.
True - despite this duty, thousands of dolphins and other animals continue to be killed each year, with 10,000 porpoises dying in British waters each year.
In what year and month was legislation introduced that forced supertrawlers to report by-catch data to the MMO?
November 2021
What is the number one cause of death for cetaceans in the UK?
Bycatch
- What initiative did the UK and devolved governments publish to address bycatch (MWBMI)?
- What was its aim?
- When was this launched?
- Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative
- This initiative aims to outline strategies to mitigate bycatch.
- It was launched in 2022
What is the main criticism of the Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative?
Despite recognizing the significance of bycatch, it lacks measurable objectives.
- What did the UK’s draft Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) claim regarding bycatch?
- Why did this claim suck?
- It claimed that authorities would commit to actions that reduce the bycatch of sensitive species
- However, the actual commitments were vague and non-binding.
What is a major flaw in the Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (What it says and why it sucks)?
- It only suggests actions that authorities ‘could’ take, with no measurable objectives or clear timescales
- This lack of commitment hampers effective action against bycatch.
True or False: The Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative includes strict timelines for implementation.
False - the initiative lacks clear timelines for implementing actions to reduce bycatch.
How many tonnes of fish were killed and discarded in the EU in 2019?
230,000 tonnes
What percentage of discarded fish in the EU in 2019 was due to bottom trawling?
92% - bottom trawling not only leads to high fish wastage but also damages ocean habitats.
What percentage of fisheries subsidies drives overfishing?
80% - these subsidies support industrial fleets, exacerbating overfishing issues.
How many Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around the UK are still vulnerable to fishing activity?
60 MPAs
What power does the UK have after leaving the EU regarding destructive fishing?
To effectively ban destructive fishing by restricting vessel licenses
This is seen as necessary to protect marine wildlife.
What are small-scale, inshore fishers in the UK and France protesting for?
To ban destructive fishing vessels from MPAs in the Channel
Give a surprising demographic that’s supporting the Dolphins Aren’t Discard campaign
Small scale, inshore fisheries
What did the World Cetacean Alliance demand from the UK government regarding bycatch (2 Things - not onboard monitoring and published bycatch data)?
- Strong, timebound actions to end bycatch
- Financial support for sustainable inshore fishers
- Name an area off of the coast of Sussex that’s been identified as highly important for dolphins.
- Where is it located?
- Why is it under threat?
- Dolphin Head Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMA)
- It’s located 55km south of Selsey in West Sussex (which is south of Chichester).
- Supertrawlers currently trawl straight through it
