Greenpeace fights to halt fishing fleet's slaughter of dolphins

[Barrett808]

Greenpeace fights to halt fishing fleet's slaughter of dolphins
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
21 January 2004

Save the Whale is back. The original buccaneering green campaign on the high seas, when environmentalists in small boats successfully highlighted slaughter-by-harpoon and changed world opinion, is about to be repeated - but this time the focus is on the whales' smaller cousins, dolphins and porpoises.

They are being killed in such numbers in the nets of fishing boats in the Western Approaches to the Channel, conservationists believe, that some species are in danger of being wiped out, and the new campaign seeks to force European governments to take action to stop it.

The campaign is being led by the people who invented non-violent but spectacular confrontation at sea, Greenpeace, in alliance with Britain's Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).

Today the latest and biggest addition to the Greenpeace fleet, the Esperanza , a 2,000-tonne former ocean-going fireship, sets sail from London with a multinational complement of 35 crew and campaigners, to meet the fishing fleets from half a dozen EU countries thought to be responsible for an annual slaughter of small cetaceans - dolphins and porpoises - now running into thousands.

In their seven-week voyage they will seek to put observers on fishing boats, in particular those carrying out what is known as pelagic trawling - towing vast mid-water nets, some with mouths 200 metres wide and 60 metres high, which are thought to be responsible for the worst of the dolphin killings.

(more)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=483217

[Bozola]

1. Hurrah! Go Greenpeace!

Goddamned proud member, here.

[MasonJar]

2. Thank God for people who really care. Let's all send them money.

[callous taoboy]

3. Nah...

Let's just wipe out all animal life, eat grass, have pet rocks.