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Modern methods of fishing are pushing some species of whales and dolphins towards extinction

Almost a dozen species of small cetaceans are on the road towards extinction. An international group of scientists, including Morigenos, reviewed the current status of small cetaceans globally. The main reason for the worrisome status of most of them are the fishing nets that catch and kill hundreds of thousands of marine mammals each year.

Whales and dolphins lived alongside human fishers in coastal seas and rivers for thousands of years. But after World War II, the nets made of cotton and hemp were replaced by cheaper and more durable synthetic nets. These gill-nets do not require large boats or expensive equipment, which makes them very attractive to small-scale coastal fishermen worldwide. But this durability also makes these nets a deadly trap for many species of whales, dolphins, other marine mammals and sea turtles, which often do not notice them and cannot escape from them once caught.

For the past 30 years, researchers and conservationists have been trying to develop nets that the animals could successfully avoid or break out of, but so far a good solution has not been found. They also called upon governments of several countries to adopt stricter measures on the use of such nets, but these measures are difficult to implement in practice, especially in third world countries. Unfortunately, things are not simple, since millions of people worldwide depend on small-scale coastal fishing, especially in poorer countries.

Of course, fishing is not the only or main threat to all species of whales and dolphins globally. Issues are very species-, country-, and area-specific. But generally speaking, gill-nets are the main threat to marine mammals globally, particularly in Africa, Asia and South America, although Europe is not exempt.

The new review study reports that 11 species of small cetaceans are dangerously close to extinction. The study, which also involved Tilen Genov from Morigenos, was published in the international scientific journal Endangered Species Research. The scientists reviewed information on population sizes, trends and bycatch levels globally. The river dolphin baiji in China is almost certainly extinct. The vaquita, a species of porpoise found only in the upper Gulf of California in Mexico, currently numbers fewer than 19 animals and is literally on the brink of extinction. The long-term prospects for the Atlantic humpback dolphins, found along West Africa, are rather grim. The outlook is also rather poor for the Māui dolphin, found only off New Zealand, as well as for the Taiwanese humpback dolphin, the Yangtze finless porpoise, three species of Asian river dolphins, and the Baltic Sea harbour porpoise. In all these cases, gillnets are the biggest threat.

“Many of these species will vanish unless gillnets are eliminated”, said Robin Baird, a cetacean expert at Cascadia Research Collective, USA, who was not involved in the study. But that will take “political courage,” he stressed, because governments will have to make unpopular decisions, such as enacting no-fishing conservation zones and enforcing strict bans. Unfortunately, he said, at this point that is the only way “to keep these species and populations from going extinct.”

Tilen Genov from Morigenos said: “Slovenia, fortunately, isn’t part of this statistic. Bycatch of dolphins in fishing nets does occur here, but appears relatively rare. When it does happen, the fishermen typically contact us themselves. We have a very good collaboration with them. We also currently have no indication of any dolphin population decline.” He added: “Of course, as researchers we do not only care about dolphins, as we are well aware that the right solutions need to be good for people and endangered species alike. But this will take a lot of effort, collaboration and innovation.”

The study is freely available at the following link: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v40/p285-296/

Moderne metode ribolova nekatere vrste kitov in delfinov rinejo na rob izumrtja

Skoraj ducat vrst kitov in delfinov drvi proti izumrtju. Mednarodna skupina znanstvenikov, v kateri je sodelovalo tudi društvo Morigenos, je v pregledni raziskavi, ki je izšla pretekli teden, opravila pregled stanja različnih vrst in populacij delfinov ter drugih malih kitov po svetu. Glavni razlog za ogroženost teh vrst so ribiške mreže, ki vsako leto ujamejo in ubijejo več sto tisoč morskih sesalcev.

Kiti in delfini so ob človeških ribičih v obalnih morjih in rekah uspešno živeli več tisoč let. Toda po drugi svetovni vojni so mreže iz bombaža in konoplje začele nadomeščati cenejše in trpežnejše sintetične mreže. Takšne stoječe mreže ne potrebujejo velikih plovil ali drage opreme, zato so izredno privlačne za male priobalne ribiče po vsem svetu. Toda zaradi svoje trpežnosti so tudi smrtonosna past za mnoge vrste kitov, delfinov, drugih morskih sesalcev ter morskih želv, ki te mreže težko opazijo in se iz njih ne morejo rešiti.

Raziskovalci in naravovarstveniki že 30 let skušajo razviti mreže, ki bi se jim te živali lahko uspešno izognile ali se iz njih rešile, a dobre rešitve zaenkrat še ni.  Prav tako so vlade različnih držav pozvali, da sprejmejo strožje ukrepe glede uporabe tovrstnih mrež, a je takšne ukrepe v praksi izredno težko izvajati, še posebej v državah tretjega sveta. Zadeve žal niso preproste, saj so od malega priobalnega ribištva odvisni milijoni ljudi, še posebej v revnejših državah.

Ribištvo seveda ni edina ali glavna grožnja vsem vrstam kitov in delfinov po svetu. Zadeve se med posameznimi vrstami, državami in območji zelo razlikujejo. Toda globalno gledano so stoječe ribiške mreže glavni dejavnik ogrožanja morskih sesalcev, največji problem pa so na območju Afrike, Azije in Južne Amerike, kljub temu, da Evropa ni izvzeta.

Omenjena raziskava povzema, da se trenutno 11 vrst malih kitov nevarno hitro približuje izumrtju. V raziskavi je sodeloval tudi Tilen Genov iz društva Morigenos, objavljena pa je bila v mednarodni znanstveni reviji Endangered Species Research. V pregledu so uporabili podatke o velikosti populacij kitov in delfinov, populacijskih trendih in ulovu morskih sesalcev v ribiške mreže po svetu. Jangceški rečni delfin, vrsta rečnega delfina na Kitajskem, je skoraj zagotovo izumrl. Kalifornijska rjava pliskavka, ki živi le na izredno majhnem območju v zgornjem Kalifornijskem zalivu v Mehiki, trenutno šteje manj kot 19 živali in je na samem robu izumrtja. Dolgoročni obeti za atlantskega belega delfina ob zahodni obali Afrike so precej slabi. Prognoza je slaba tudi za novozelandsko kratkogobčno pliskavko, ki živi le ob obalah Nove Zelandije, za tajvanske bele delfine, jangceško brezplavuto pliskavko, tri vrste azijskih rečnih delfinov in baltsko rjavo pliskavko. V vseh primerih je glavni dejavnik ogrožanja prav ulov v ribiške mreže.

»Mnoge od teh vrst bodo izginile, če se bodo te mreže še naprej uporabljale v takem obsegu«, je povedal Robin Baird, morski biolog iz Cascadia Research Collective, ZDA, ki ni bil del raziskave. Toda poudaril je, da to zahteva »politični pogum«, saj to pomeni težke in nepriljubljene odločitve, kot so območja prepovedi ribolova in strogo uveljavljanje teh prepovedi. »Na žalost«, je še povedal, »je trenutno to edini način preprečitve izumrtja teh vrst.«

Tilen Genov iz društva Morigenos je povedal: »Na srečo Slovenija ni del te statistike. Prilov delfinov v ribiške mreže se pri nas sicer občasno dogaja, vendar ni prav zelo pogost. Kadar do tega pride, nas ribiči praviloma sami kontaktirajo. Z njimi imamo res dobro sodelovanje. Prav tako zaenkrat ni videti, da bi populacija delfinov pri nas upadala.« Dodal je še: »Raziskovalci seveda nismo osredotočeni le na delfine, saj se dobro zavedamo, da so prave rešitve tiste, ki bodo dobre tako za ljudi kot za ogrožene vrste. Vendar bo za to potrebno ogromno truda, sodelovanja in inovativnosti.«

Članek je prosto dostopen na naslednjem naslovu: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v40/p285-296/

13. Dan delfinov

Vabljeni na že 13. Dan delfinov, ki bo tokrat v soboto, 10. avgusta, v Piranu. Dogajanje bo zopet pestro, točen program pa razkrijemo kmalu. :)

Dogodek sta finančno podprla Občina Piran in Živeti s pristaniščem.

PODPRITE DOBER NAMEN SKOZI IGRO – NOVA DRUŽABNA IGRA DRUŠTVA MORIGENOS

Letošnje poletje lahko naša prizadevanja na področju raziskovanja in varstva delfinov ter morja podprete tudi skozi igro! Društvo Morigenos je ob podpori družbe Coca-cola v okviru akcije »Vedno podpiraj dober namen« izdelalo družabno igrico SPOMIN – DELFINI V SLOVENSKEM MORJU, ki jo lahko od danes naprej kupite v trgovinah Tuš in na ta način prispevate k varstvu delfinov v slovenskem morju. Dobrodelno akcijo je podprlo tudi podjetje Tuš, ki se bo v ta namen odpovedalo zaslužku in vsa sredstva od prodaje namenilo raziskovanju in varstvu delfinov ob slovenski obali. V nekaterih prodajalnah Tuš lahko igrico kupite že danes, v naslednjih dneh pa bo na voljo v vseh prodajalnah Tuš po Sloveniji.

Igro sestavlja 12 parov kartic s slikami delfinov iz slovenskega morja in okoliških voda, ki so nastale v času raziskovanja društva Morigenos. V tej igri se lahko med drugim preizkusite pri prepoznavanju nekaterih delfinov iz slovenskega morja po hrbtnih plavutih ter celo po njihovih obrazih – jih boste znali razlikovati?

Igrica spomin uporabnikom na zabaven način predstavi delfine v slovenskem morju, prikaže nekatere raziskovalne metode raziskovanja delfinov in spodbuja varstvo morja. Z njo lahko popestrite poletne dni, namenjena pa je vsem starostnim skupinam. Primerna je kot darilo, zavzema zelo malo prostora in je okolju prijazna. Z nakupom igrice neposredno podpirate raziskovanje in varstvo delfinov v Sloveniji. Zelo si želimo, da nas z nakupom igrice podprete in upamo, da boste ob igrici uživali!

SUPPORT A GOOD CAUSE THROUGH PLAY – A NEW MEMORY GAME BY MORIGENOS

This summer you can support our efforts in the study and conservation of dolphins and the marine environment through play! Morigenos, with the help of Coca-cola, created a new memory game »DOLPHINS IN SLOVENIA« within the campaign »Always support a good cause«. The game became available for purchase in Tuš stores today. The campaign is supported by the company Tuš, which will donate all of the raised funds to the study and conservation of dolphins in Slovenia and the Gulf of Trieste. You can already find the game in some Tuš stores today, while in the following days the game will be available in all Tuš stores across Slovenia.

The game consists of 12 pairs of cards with pictures of dolphins from the northern Adriatic Sea, taken during research activities carried out by Morigenos. In this game you can test your skills of recognising some of the dolphins from the Gulf of Trieste by their dorsal fins and even faces – will you be able to tell them apart?

This new game aims to showcase dolphins along the Slovenian coast, introduce some of the methods used to study them and promote marine conservation through play and fun. You can use it as additional entertainment during summer days. It is international (the cards do not contain any words and are therefore not restricted to any particular language) and appropriate for all age groups. It makes a great gift, takes up very little space and is environmentally friendly. By purchasing this game you are directly supporting the study and conservation of dolphins in Slovenia and the northern Adriatic Sea. We hope you will consider supporting us this way and we wish you lots of fun with it!