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Stop UK dolphins, porpoises and whales dying in fishing gear

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Protect UK dolphins, porpoises and whales

What's the problem?

Thousands of dolphins, porpoises and whales die in fishing gear every year in UK seas. This is known as 'bycatch'.

Most of the protection they have comes from the EU. But, after Brexit they might not even have that.

What then? Even more could die. We need to keep them safe.

Like us, whales and dolphins can’t breathe underwater. Trapped in a net, they will panic, just like you would. Many endure terrible wounds and broken bones as they try to escape. When they can’t struggle any more, they will close their blowhole and suffocate.

Now is the time to stop this suffering.  We need the governments of the UK to make sure effective laws are in place to protect dolphins, porpoises and whales in UK seas after Britain leaves the EU.

Getting these laws in place is not going to be quick. We will need public support at each step of the way. Can we count on you?

Together we need to:

  1. Keep up the pressure on the UK government to ensure that once we leave the EU, we have strong laws in place to protect the dolphins, porpoises and whales who live around our shores..
  2. Work with technology experts and the fishing industry to find safer ways to fish.
  3. Make sure that fishing is properly monitored and deaths are reported.

 

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Dead dolphin in a French driftnet

The Story so far

We're working hard to get proper protection from fishing gear at both UK and EU levels

Sarah Dolman at petition handover

75,000 of you signed our petition and we presented it to UK Fisheries Minister, George Eustice at the Houses of Parliament. He promised action to tackle dolphin, porpoise and whale deaths in fishing nets and gear.

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To stop dolphins, porpoises and whales dying a horrible death in fishing gear in our seas we’re going to need strong laws.  We have been instrumental in working up legislation and need to ensure the government adopts it.

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Thousands of you emailed your MEPs to urge them to vote for better protection at EU level. What's decided in Europe will form the basis of our UK laws after Brexit. Thank you for your action!

Latest News

Porpoise in net

We need urgent action to stop porpoises dying in nets in UK seas

2nd June 2020
Around 1,105 harbour porpoises die in UK fishing gear each year, mainly in the North Sea and Celtic and Irish Seas. What’s worse is that...

What does coronavirus mean for the future of fishing and our efforts to prevent dolphin deaths in nets?

19th May 2020
Bycatch is the biggest global killer of dolphins, porpoises and whales – hundreds of thousands of them die in fishing gear every year and I...
Breaching porpoise

WDC funded research shows ‘pingers’ could save porpoises from fishing nets

13th May 2020
Underwater sound devices called ‘pingers’ could be an effective, long-term way to prevent porpoises getting caught in fishing nets without having negative effects on their...

The pingers and the porpoise – preventing deaths in fishing nets in Cornwall

16th January 2020
When a porpoise or dolphin swims into a fishing net, rope or line, they can quickly become entangled. Like us, they breathe air, and so...

We've achieved a lot together

We got the UK government to commit to tackling bycatch.

Now we are at the table helping to shape government action.