Protecting dolphins in the Bay of Biscay, France
About Operation Dolphin Bycatch
In February 2018, the crew of Sea Shepherd’s M/Y Bob Barker captured footage of dead dolphins being hauled onboard industrial fishing trawlers off France’s Atlantic Coast. Scientific evidence shows 6000_10,000 dolphins are dying each year due to non-selective fishing methods used to target sea bass. While the French Ministry of the Sea fails to take action and the general public are kept in the dark, dead dolphins continue washing up on local beaches bearing the scars of fishing gear. Sea Shepherd has returned to the scene each winter for Operation Dolphin Bycatch, a campaign to expose the ongoing slaughter before it’s too late.
The Issue
Deadly fishing methods are killing thousands of dolphins every year
Scientists Raise the Alarm
Dolphin populations may be wiped out on the Atlantic Coast of France
Why Bycatch Numbers are High
Intentionally opaque reporting of bycatch