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Conservationists are preparing themselves for another year of slaughter,
following the discovery of eight dead dolphins and porpoises on two local
beaches.
The bodies of five porpoises, bearing all the hallmarks of having been
caught in fishing nets, were discovered on Friday by Penzance's Dr Nick
Tregenza, of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Local volunteer Caroline Curtis
also reported the grim find on Marazion and Long Rock beaches.
She said: "They were spaced out along the beach and I have no doubt
they were the victims of by-catch.
"All the skin was rubbed off their beaks and over their dorsal fins."
Caroline added: "It makes me feel incredibly angry. The most poignant
thing is that they are not all fully grown - two of them were calves.
"In the past few weeks we have had reports of porpoises washed up
in the same place. They are much more elusive creatures than dolphins
and they don't tend to travel in such large pods."
Later the same day, three cetacean carcasses were found at Par and Duporth
on Cornwall's south coast.
Postmortem examinations were due to be carried out on those found at
Marazion and Long Rock and the results will be added to data compiled
by the Natural History Museum.
Friday's discoveries were among the first of what conservationists fear
will be another year of slaughter off our coast.
Large visiting bass pair trawlers, which frequent the rich waters off
the South West, are blamed for the annual tide of death which topped 250
in Cornwall alone last year.
Campaigners, who have demanded an outright ban on the fishery, have been
frustrated at a lack of action from the Government and the European Union.
Dr Tregenza, who lives at Long Rock and who photographed the grim find,
fears that this is only the beginning of what could prove to be another
year of rising cetacean deaths.
Fisheries Minister, Ben Bradshaw has backed the introduction of nets
with "escape hatches" following trials last year which Defra
claim were successful.
They are to be used voluntarily by Scottish fishermen this year, although
campaigners have stressed the Defra trial was flawed because it was carried
out at the wrong time of year. Meanwhile, the EU has been attacked for
merely insisting on mandatory observers on such boats.
Anyone who finds a dolphin or porpoise washed up on a local beach is
asked to call 0845 2012626.
article copyright © THE CORNISHMAN
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