MAJOR THREAT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
SEA
DRIFTING NETS
| If one can be delighted at the
presence of the maritime mammals on the Provençal coast, it is not necessary to darken
for all that the dangers which threaten them. In that case precise, it is the action of
the people which is responsible for mortal consequences on cetaceans. |
| One of the biggest plagues of the
Mediterranean Sea is fishing. Fishing boats, real floating factories, use infallible, very
profitable but devastating techniques for numerous navy sorts. The fishes of common
consumption are the targets of drifting nets, but these "walls" which
can extend until 40 km in length are unbridgeable for any animal which finds them on the
road. Tortoises, sharks and cetaceans become the involuntary preys of these nets. Dolphins
do not always discover obstacle, or can not cut with their teeth the highly resistant
metal stitches of the rope. |
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An international rule limits the
use of these nets, but the non-European boats (Korean in particular) escape this law and
come " to make height " in the Mediterranean Sea to the detriment of
the local fauna. In reaction to this worrisome situation, actions of conservation and
sensitization of public opinion built up themselves for some years. |
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