A new dolphin corpse has been found on one of the beaches on the Landes coast. His body, voluntarily disembowelled, was found on Sunday February 19, on a beach in Labenne (Landes), according to information from France Blue Gascony, published this Tuesday, February 21. According to the observatory for the conservation of marine fauna, Pélagis, this phenomenon is far from being an isolated case: no less than 400 cetaceans have been found dead since December 1, 2022 off the beaches of the Bay of Biscay.
For the NGO Sea Shepherd, the perpetrators of these voluntary mutilations are none other than the fishermen. guest of France Inter this Wednesday, February 22, the president of the NGO, Lamya Essemlali, even accused them of practicing these acts of cruelty on the sly. “Some fishermen are trying to hide the evidence of capture” she said on public radio.
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“Fishermen have a regulatory obligation to report these catches. But we are at about 1.5% of declarations, so the majority of fishermen do not declare. And so that the evidence never arrives on the beaches, some of them disembowel and eviscerate these dolphins, to try to make them sink to the bottom of the water “, said the president of Sea Shepherd. In mid-February the NGO filed a complaint in a similar case: six dolphins, including five who were found dead on the same beach, in Arcachon (Gironde), and who were all disembowelled, reports France Bleu Gascogne again.
Multiple appeals
In an attempt to curb this excess dolphin mortality, the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) has initiated new appeals to the French government and the European Commission to obtain the suspension of fishing in the Bay of Biscay in view of the unprecedented increase in dolphin strandings. This request for “space-time closure” fishing must also be examined this Friday, February 24 by the Council of State, after an appeal launched by France Nature Environnement.
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For its part, the LPO reiterated this same ” urgent request “ with the Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, according to the letter consulted by AFP. A step prior to a possible new procedure before the Council of State.
