Conservationists are to track fishing fleets they claim are pushing dolphins and porpoises to extinction, in an attempt to force governments to stop the killing. As a last resort, the activists will take direct action against vessels.
Greenpeace is setting sail from London in its largest ship, the Esperanza, along with the normally staid Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society to intercept fishing fleets.
They are backed by the Natural History Museum, which compiles statistics on dead whales, dolphins and porpoises (known collectively as cetaceans) washed up on British beaches. The museum says the casualties are rising.
In a report published yesterday, entitled The Net Effect, the European Union, and all EU governments including the UK, are accused of failing to act on the habitats directive, which insists that fishing fleets should be prevented from killing dolphins and porpoises.
Last year alone, it is thought some 8,000 porpoises were killed in the North Sea and a further 10,000 cetaceans in the English Channel, Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay. The numbers may include thousands more, as only a few are washed up.
Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace executive director, said: "We are witnessing a cruel slaughter, painful death and an unfolding environmental tragedy. At the current rates, dolphins and porpoises will be wiped out in our seas within a generation. “It is reprehensible that the British government and the EU are taking so little action, despite a legal, and even greater moral obligation to do so. Failure to protect these beautiful large mammals is as important as failing to protect elephants or tigers.â€
Richard Sabin, of the Natural History Museum, which coordinates counting of stranded cetaceans and establishes cause of death, said there had been a startling rise in porpoise deaths this year already.
In the first 19 days of January, 36 harbor porpoises were found dead on Cornish beaches - compared with 15 for January last year across the West Country. It was too early to say what killed them but the injuries were consistent with their getting caught in nets.
Ali Ross, fisheries expert from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said giant trawling nets, a kilometer long, were being used by French, Dutch, Irish, Danish and British fleets. Animals trapped inside suffered prolonged and traumatic deaths, as the injuries of broken beaks and lacerations showed.
To observers aboard trawling vessels, it was clear the death toll was high. One group on British boats counted 53 drowned dolphins in 116 hauls.
With the Irish fleet fishing for albacore tuna in 2002, 145 dolphins had been killed in 313 hauls. One group of 30 dolphins was caught in a single net.
The British government is currently on its third year of trials with a net fitted with escape grids, but no action has been taken elsewhere in Europe.
EU plans to monitor the situation were grossly inadequate, the report said. The idea of putting "pingers" - acoustic warning devices on nets - and fitting escape grids was good, but needed to be pushed forward immediately.
Since no one knew whether these measures worked, progress should be monitored and if necessary some fishing methods should be banned, and areas closed to fishing.
Over seven weeks, the Esperanza, equipped with underwater cameras and acoustic devices, will sail with experts to monitor fleets in the Channel and off the West Country and Ireland.
The crew will ask ships to allow trained observers on board so that the number of dolphins and porpoises killed can be counted. If fishing crews refuse, Greenpeace boats will monitor their catches from inflatable boats.
Blake Lee-Harwood, Greenpeace campaigns director, said if the crew saw that nets were likely to catch marine animals, they would try their best to prevent it happening by non-violent direct action.
Most marine mammals caught in nets are discarded over the side and the majority are lost. Fishermen often slash them with knives to make them sink. Even so, large numbers are washed ashore.
The main species killed are harbor porpoises and common dolphins, though bottlenose and whitesided dolphins are also killed, as are long-finned pilot whales.
Death toll
In the last three years the number of dolphins and porpoises reported to have washed up on British beaches has been:
2001 99 common dolphins, 38 harbor porpoises
2002 96 common dolphins and 80 harbor porpoises
2003 131 common dolphins (plus 120 unidentified dolphins) and 25 harbor porpoises
2004 (to January 19) 15 common dolphins and 36 harbor porpoises