“Hecatombe in Spain”, denounces the organization Sea Shepherd France, which since 2018 has been working on the accidental captures of dolphins in fishing networks in front of the French coasts. This year, the group has focused on the practices carried out in Galician things, on a mission whose results have been announced this week.
On his first day of observation, on Tuesday, March 18, his “Walrus” ship followed for about ten hours a couple of pelagic fishing boats about 30 kilometers from the coast of Vigo, and verified how the fishermen withdrew from the network and threw the sea again at twenty of dead common dolphins. The organization wonders about the destiny of this species before such a high volume of captures in one day. “A mortality rate like this is dangerous for its survival and we know that it is not an isolated case,” he warns, in addition to remembering that European regulations have already forced France to take measures to protect dolphins.
The situation has even led to adopting measures to reduce these accidental catches in the Gulf of Vizcaya, where a fishing ban between January and February of this 2025 was imposed.
Various organizations and administrations have been working for years to stop the serious collateral damage that drag networks cause in these animals that, for various reasons, usually interact with fishing ships. The sector itself and some EU member states invest in research and essays to develop new devices that allow you to avoid these deaths. “Ahuyenters” that still do not seem to be able to prevent thousands and thousands of dolphins, marsopas and whales from falling into the networks.