Dolphins are the victims of new monsters of the deep

THE dead dolphins being washed up on the beaches of Ireland’s southern and western coasts are a sickening example of the destructive forces of industrial sea-plundering by super-trawlers as large as naval vessels.

Last week, reader, PG, of Brandon, Co Kerry, walking the shoreline, noted three dead dolphins stretched on the sands; two weeks ago he saw two, one a week earlier.

Unlike bigger mammals, the two-metre long common dolphins don’t pose disposal problems. The carcasses are scavenged by carrion crows, herring gulls and watchful great black-backed gulls. Remnants are carried away by the tides.

This removes an immediate visual impact of disgust and sadness but memories remain of superb and playful mammals which follow ships at sea attracting attention with graceful acrobatics.

The super-trawler fishing factories which kill them can be more than 100m long and, as EU-registered vessels, are legally entitled to work off areas of British (for now) and Irish coasts under the Common Fisheries Policy. The Brexit-British now say they will soon be able to send them on their way — and bring more concern to us.

Environmentalists say these super-trawlers are incompatible with sustainable fisheries management.

In terms of their size, one monster — the Lithuanian-registered

Margiris, — is 142m long, 6,200 tonnes deadweight and is considered the second biggest in the world. The biggest is the former Killybegs-centred Atlantic Dawn (latterly the Dutch-registered Annelies Ilena) though there are rumours of a slightly bigger one — the Damanzaihao — flying a Peruvian flag.

According to Greenpeace, at least one of these large boats has been fishing in the English Channel in an area designated a conservation zone. But the activities of these super-trawlers — they can catch more than 2m fish every two months — are unclear. How are the dolphins dying? They are caught in the vast nets of vessels such as these.

John Hourston of the Blue Planet Society, an environmental group, spoke of a “long stream” of dolphin deaths. But further scientific study is needed to prove the trawler-dolphin link.

French campaigners have been highlighting the tragedy of increased numbers of mammal carcasses on Biscay beaches.

The owners of the hulking trawlers say their catch quotas are “dictated by government and EU regulations and based on scientific advice”.

Blue Planet, however, says observers should be on board the ships to monitor which fish are being caught.

For the UK fishing industry, Brexit is expected to bring control. For Irish fishermen who work regular-sized boats much remains to be unravelled. They don’t operate any super-trawlers, however, with nets that entangle harmless dolphins.