Greenpeace vow to "disrupt as many pair trawlers as possible"

Trawler crew remove a Greenpeace buoy from their net which is preventing them fishing

Greenpeace today vowed to disrupt as many pair trawling vessels in the Channel as possible in an attempt to save dolphins from being pushed towards extinction.

The environmental group's promise comes as activists attempted to halt two UK pair trawlers - the Ocean Dawn and the Sunrise - from fishing by attaching large buoys to their net.

Pair trawlers are responsible for the deaths of thousands of dolphins in the Channel every year, according to Greenpeace. The dolphins are caught and drowned in the huge net dragged between two vessels.

Today's engagement between Greenpeace volunteers and the trawlers happened soon after 9am, about 32 miles south-west of Plymouth.

Yesterday Greenpeace took action to stop the French vessels, Sonia Jerome and Cote d'Amour, fishing after finding a dead dolphin in the Channel which bore all the telltale signs of having been caught and killed in a large fishing net. In recent days, Greenpeace have successfully stopped UK pair trawlers from fishing on two occasions.

Last year, government observers found that just one pair of UK trawlers killed over 150 dolphins. The UK fleet alone is estimated to be responsible for the deaths of 439 dolphins last fishing season. The UK and French fleets combined could be killing over 2,000 dolphins a year.

According to the environmental group, Ben Bradshaw, the Fisheries Minister, has consistently failed to take the necessary measures to protect dolphins around the UK.

Sarah Duthie, Greenpeace oceans campaigner onboard the Esperanza, said: "We will attempt to stop as many pair trawlers as possible. This destructive form of fishing is killing thousands of dolphins every year.

"Bradshaw hasnt done anything to save dolphins from these huge nets, so at the moment its up to us to stop these trawlers from driving them to extinction."

The Esperanza left Falmouth on the 17 February to campaign for a ban on pair trawling for sea bass in the Channel. An independent team of researchers from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) is on board to further assess the conservation and welfare threats to whale, dolphin and porpoise populations.

Greenpeace want the government to investigate, which other fishing methods are also killing dolphins and porpoises and take action. Worldwide, the unintentional capture in fishing nets of dolphins, porpoises and other marine species is recognised to be a major problem. It is estimated to kill some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises a year. Overall it has been estimated that 23% of the global fisheries catch is returned, dead, to the sea.

Further information
Contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.