A case file has finally been opened in Greece for the killing of four bottlenose dolphins following a complaint lodged in May by a marine conservation institute.
The Athens District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday ordered the formation of a case file for the killing of four bottlenose dolphins in the northeastern Aegean in May, following a complaint by the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation.
“No environmental crime or killing of a wild animal can go unpunished. A basic principle is to be able to find the culprits,” Thodoris Tsimpidis, Director of the institute, told BIRN.
The four dead Stenella coeruleoalba dolphins were found in May in the open sea between the islands of Chios and Ikaria by researchers of Archipelagos.
“People don’t know the species and when you don’t know, you can’t have a picture of the situation. Bottlenose dolphins are a pelagic [ocean-going] species, so we deny their interaction with coastal fishermen,” Tsimpidis said.
According to Archipelagos, bottlenose dolphins are often killed by colliding or tangling with large fishing vessels, such as motor trawlers and large swordfish and tuna-catching trawlers from Greece and Turkey. These trawlers often fish together using nets.
They are also a disaster for the Aegean, the organisation says, depleting tuna stocks by violating the fixed fishing quotas set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and at the same time decimating pelagic species of dolphins.
“We know that, when they want, they turn off their electronic systems, so they can’t be traced. In this way, you don’t have a picture of what is happening in a vast environment, resulting in many violations and illegalities,” Tsibidis said.
It is estimated that the total number of dead dolphins is likely much higher, as most of them are not traced. Often, when they are killed, a hole is often made in their abdomen so that they sink fast to the bottom and do not reach the shore.
More than 200 dolphins live in this marine area, spread out in large sub-groups. “We still don’t know how many animals have been slaughtered,” Tsimpidis said, adding that “implementation of an artificial intelligence program will help us to have more control over the sea”.
While the incident and complaint occurred in May, the case file was only ordered this week.
“The legislation is clear; it is now a crime, but the reflexes of the Greek justice system in these cases are still a bit slow,” Tsibidis said. “I want to believe that with time there will be an improvement on this and that we will also acquire [a sense of] responsibility,” Tsibidis concluded.
Source: Balkan Insight