article_detail

Spain is drawing up emergency rules to stop dolphins, sea turtles and seabirds dying in fishing nets after poor practices have led to hundreds of protected animals being killed or injured every year.

 

The Ministry for Ecological Transition is preparing a royal decree that will introduce protective measures and protocols to prevent these accidents. The problem is most severe on Spain's northern Cantabrian coast, where thousands of common dolphins are reported dead annually after drowning in fishing gear they can't escape from.

 

In the Region of Murcia, such incidents are far less common and rarely result in serious harm. Loggerhead turtles occasionally get caught by trawlers or longline boats off the Murcia coast, and bottlenose dolphins and some manta rays become tangled in nets at the La Azohía tuna trap near Cartagena while hunting for food.

 

So far these animals have either freed themselves or been helped to escape by fishermen and divers without suffering injuries.

 

The Association of Naturalists of the Southeast (ANSE) has been crucial in monitoring the situation at tuna fishing operations. For the past decade the group has run studies, funded jointly with the Biodiversity Foundation, to assess the risk of accidental capture and damage to marine life along the Levantine coast.

 

Director Pedro García says the risk "has been very low" and notes that experimental deterrents like acoustic emitters have backfired by actually attracting animals rather than scaring them away.

 

Mr García has praised the "very good" conduct of tuna trap owners and fishermen in Murcia, who have helped release every stray animal, sometimes cutting their own nets and accepting the financial loss of escaped fish to free trapped creatures.

 

The new royal decree will require fishermen to report all accidental catches so authorities can monitor problem areas, identify which fishing gear poses the greatest risk and pinpoint when incidents happen most frequently.

 

"Measures must be established to reduce accidental catches and, if they occur, the necessary measures must be developed and implemented to ensure that these catches cause the least possible damage," the ministry explained.

 

The ANSE research has also highlighted bird deaths. A four-year study of fixed fishing gear in the Mar Menor, used to catch prawns, gilthead seabream and European seabass, estimated around 500 waterbirds drown in these nets annually. The decree could change fishing methods or baiting practices in areas with high bird concentrations to prevent further deaths like those suffered in the Mediterranean.

 

 

Image: Archive