Neil Parish, Conservative MEP for England's South-west region, has backed a call by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) for the British Government to speed up the introduction of measures to reduce entanglements.

'The UK Government has a duty to provide adequate protection to these animals and it is clearly failing in that duty,' Parish is reported to have said. 'The Government knows some of our fishing equipment is killing dolphins and porpoises, yet they procrastinate with trials of technology that may not be effective.

'[Fisheries Minister] Ben Bradshaw should stop dragging his feet. The Government must stop the trials and take immediate action to bring this outrage to an end.'

Under EU legislation, from 1 January this year member states should have introduced electronic 'pingers' which, attached to fishing nets, can repel dolphins and porpoises and save them from accidental capture. But Britain - along with other EU states - has not been able to meet the requirement.

Trials of pinger technology started in 1998, conducted by specialist researchers on behalf of the Government. According to the WDCS, it has been accepted that the principle works - but it has not been proved that the technology can be applied reliably in manufacture.

Recently, trials organiser Sea Fish Industry Authority reported that, of four prototypes tested, two failed and the other two, while more promising, had battery or reliability problems. Sea Fish has been given until the end of March to conduct further tests with, it hopes, better results.

The European Commission is due to meet on 20 April with Sea Fish and other bodies responsible for similar research in other countries. The aim will be to establish a framework for the belated introduction of pinger technology among EU fishing fleets.

But Ali Ross, WDCS Fisheries Policy Officer, doubts that manufacturable pingers will exist by the end of March. She told Divernet that, until they can be introduced, 'fisheries that are causing the damage should be closed or limited'.

Related links
WDCS website http://www.wdcs.org