Saving dolphins and fishermen, the Life Delfi project arrives

PESCARA - Reducing the interactions of fishing activities with dolphins and, therefore, achieving the dual objective of safeguarding these specimens and limiting the economic losses of fishermen. These are the objectives of the Life Delfi project, developed by the experts of the National Research Council, together with a broad partnership, in order to answer the question of whether "it is possible to protect dolphins and save the catch of the day".

The Life Delfi project - an initiative, co-financed by the European Union, also involves the 'Torre del Cerrano' marine protected area based in Pineto (Teramo) - was launched with an operational meeting in Rome at the headquarters of the National Research Council in the presence of the representatives of the nine partners involved: to collaborate in the European project coordinated by the Cnr there are four marine protected areas (Egadi islands; Punta Campanella; Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo; Torre del Cerrano), the Blue World Institute of Marine Research and Conservation, Legambiente Onlus and Filicudi WildLife Conservation, together with the Universities of Padua and Siena. The pilot areas of the European project will be eight in Italy and two in Croatia. In these areas, the presence of dolphins is increasing and their interactions with fishing more and more often cause the daily balance of fishermen to close in a negative way. At best it is an economic loss due to damage to the nets or the removal of fish eaten by dolphins. The worst ending of the fishing trip materializes with a wounded or dead dolphin caught in nets.

At the basis of the project, in addition to data collected from previous bibliographical research, there is a survey submitted to over one hundred fishermen operating in the Life Delphi pilot areas. "The results and the numbers that emerged - say the promoters of the project - are clear: 94% of fishermen reported a high presence of dolphins (from 2 to 20 individuals per day) during the summer. 68% of them reported about an increase in the presence of dolphins about three times in the last decade ".

"The damage reported, mainly in the waters surrounding the protected marine areas - they continue - is on average around 1,500-2,000 euros per year, with occasional serious losses of up to 10,000-20,000 euros. In short, a strong socio-economic impact in areas where fishing is among the main activities, without forgetting the high number of dolphins that died from interactions with fishing gear: 24 between 2012 and 2015 ".

To limit the phenomenon, the Life Delphi project will propose "direct actions to the use of alternative techniques for fishing and information and awareness raising activities for fishermen and the widest share of citizens". (HANDLE).