Last week, the international organization Environmental Investigation Agency published a new report on the deadly impact of cetacean bycatch in the waters around Europe. The report’s conclusions and recommendations show that despite legal protection, all coastal European countries are failing to adequately protect cetacean populations in their waters from bycatch. The study also covers the waters of the Black Sea, where the harbour porpoise is the most affected species and bycatch levels are a significant threat to the good conservation status of this endemic subspecies.
For the seventh year, Green Balkans experts continue to collect information on the bycatch of marine mammals in Bulgarian waters. The biggest threat is posed by bottom-set nets for turbot fishing – the most valuable species of fish from an economic point of view. This past spring, our team continued this extremely important activity through already established partnerships with fishermen and thanks to the ongoing support of our long-standing partner OceanCare.
Our experts collected information from a total of five vessels that have a turbot quota. 114 km of nets were surveyed: 65 km from observers and 49 km from reports from fishermen. A total of 13 cetaceans were recorded – 12 porpoises and 1 common dolphin. The average level of bycatch is lower compared to spring 2024, but higher compared to the same season in 2019, 2020 and 2023.
However, in general, we should note that in recent years, spring levels have traditionally been lower than summer, with the only significant exception being 2022. An unexpected observation was a case of porpoise bycatch in nets for shad, which were located in close proximity to the coast at a much shallower depth than those for turbot.
For the seventh year, Green Balkans experts continue to collect information on the bycatch of marine mammals in Bulgarian waters. The biggest threat is posed by bottom-set nets for turbot fishing – the most valuable species of fish from an economic point of view. This past spring, our team continued this extremely important activity through already established partnerships with fishermen and thanks to the ongoing support of our long-standing partner OceanCare.
Our experts collected information from a total of five vessels that have a turbot quota. 114 km of nets were surveyed: 65 km from observers and 49 km from reports from fishermen. A total of 13 cetaceans were recorded – 12 porpoises and 1 common dolphin. The average level of bycatch is lower compared to spring 2024, but higher compared to the same season in 2019, 2020 and 2023.
However, in general, we should note that in recent years, spring levels have traditionally been lower than summer, with the only significant exception being 2022. An unexpected observation was a case of porpoise bycatch in nets for shad, which were located in close proximity to the coast at a much shallower depth than those for turbot.
