Bycatch kills thousands of UK whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds each year

Thousands of Britain’s protected marine animals, including whales, porpoises, dolphins, seals and seabirds, are killed each year as bycatch by fishing vessels, according to the first comprehensive analysis of the data.

The report by the Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of conservation groups, estimates annual deaths at more than 1,000 harbour porpoises and common dolphins, 10,000 seabirds and 500 seals. Six humpback whales and 30 minke whales were also found dead in Scottish creel ropes. More than 1,000 endangered Atlantic salmon and 120 tonnes of protected sharks, skates and rays are caught and killed each year.

Only a small share of the UK fleet monitors bycatch. Just 0.05 percent of dredging vessels do so. Non-UK vessels operating in UK waters were not included.

Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said most deaths could be avoided with existing mitigation measures. He urged the government in England to act on promised plans to reduce bycatch of protected species.

“From razorbills and dolphins to endangered salmon and sharks, the scale of destruction exposed in this report is shocking, with animals dying in awful and unnecessary ways,” Benwell said.

Gillnets pose the highest risk to seabirds in English waters. Puffins, gannets and razorbills drown after becoming entangled while diving for food. Gillnets cause 400,000 seabird deaths worldwide each year, according to BirdLife International.

Benwell called for mandatory monitoring and enforcement. “The government mustn’t let these terrible losses continue,” he said. “We need to support fishers to move to more modern methods and not cause collateral damage.”

Cetacean deaths from bycatch are a key reason the UK is failing to meet its legal obligations for good environmental status in some British seas, the report said.

Ruth Williams, head of marine conservation at the Wildlife Trusts, said bycatch is distressing for many fishers and harms marine ecosystems. Successive governments have failed to address the “silent and largely unseen” crisis, she said.

The coalition wants remote electronic monitoring required on all vessels in English waters, including those under 10 metres.

Fishers in Filey Bay, Yorkshire, cut seabird bycatch from 700 birds a year to four or five by switching to heavier nets. In Scotland, trials of weighted creel ropes have reduced whale entanglements.

A Defra spokesperson said the government is committed to restoring ocean health and is using its Clean Catch programme and a new Seabird Bycatch Action Plan to reduce deaths.