Stop Cetacean Deaths in European Waters

To:  EU Commissioner Franz Fischler

Thousands of porpoises, dolphins and whales are dying in European waters each year, due to entanglement in fishing nets.

The Member States of the European Community are obliged, under the Habitats and Species Directive (92/43/EEC), to monitor the incidental capture and killing of all cetaceans, and to take action to ensure that incidental capture does not have a significant impact on the species concerned. They have also made commitments, under the Bonn Agreement (ASCOBANS, ACCOBAMS), to minimise, and ultimately reduce to zero, losses of small cetaceans through fisheries bycatch.

However, the Member States of the European Community are not complying with the Directive, and are failing to honour their commitments.

We the undersigned therefore request that, as a matter of urgency and in accordance with Article 6 of the Amsterdam Treaty, the European Common Fisheries Policy be amended, to incorporate a Cetacean Bycatch Response Strategy.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Stop Cetacean Deaths in European Waters Petition to EU Commissioner Franz Fischler was created by European Cetacean Bycatch Campaign and written by Alan & Mary Stuart.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc.  For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

Send this to a friend