The French government has been ordered to ban fishing on parts of its west coast amid fears that the common dolphin is in “serious danger” of extinction.
The Pelagis Oceanographic Institute has estimated that around 1,000 dolphins have died off the country’s Atlantic coast this winter due to “accidental capture during fishing”. Government-affiliated scientists estimate that around 10,000 dolphins are killed each year in that area of western France’s sea alone.
France’s judicial body, the Council of State, has given government officials six months to ban fishing in parts of the Bay of Biscay and better protect dolphins.
The deaths are largely blamed on industrial fishing and although the council’s intervention was welcomed by conservationists, campaigners said they “hope it’s not too late” to save many of the animals.
Experts also said dolphins have changed their reproductive patterns to give birth more quickly – a known sign before extinction.
Controversial fishing methods include French nets, sometimes 31 miles long, indiscriminately ensnaring a full range of sea creatures.
French authorities have been under pressure for several years to do more to prevent the high mortality rate of the sea creatures – and have been criticized for not taking stronger measures.
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