Marine Conservation Society By: Clare Fischer 

‘The UK has come under pressure to better protect harbour porpoises after the European Court of Justice ruled that it had failed to provide enough sites for the only member of the porpoise family found in European waters.

Dr Jean-Luc Solandt, MCS, Principle Specialist Marine Protected Areas, says: “We’ve been in the EU for many years, and for decades have had the ability to designate Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for these emblematic creatures. “It took a legal challenge from WWF to get the first protected areas for cetaceans in place, rather than our Government thinking these would be a good idea. As such, and with this subsequent ruling, we can clearly see that Government needs to do more. And indeed, with only 4% of our MPAs seeing closures to bottom trawling and scallop dredging, they are principally ‘paper parks’. Come on Government, stop the talk, and start properly protecting these areas.’

Environmental law charity ClientEarth’s wildlife conservation lawyer Tatiana Lujan said the UK had “dragged its heels and failed to comply” with rules to protect harbour porpoises. Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) said harbour porpoises “live fast and die young”, at just 12 years on average. Recent evidence shows they may be struggling to reproduce successfully because of high levels of pollution, and they die in high numbers in fishing nets and are disturbed by ocean noise including wind farm construction.’

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