10 fishermen on board TN trawler ‘hunt’ dolphins, held

10 fishermen on board TN trawler ‘hunt’ dolphins, held

Subject : Environment

Section: Species in news

Context: 10 fishermen on board a Tamil Nadu fishing trawler were arrested by the Porbandar wildlife division of Gujarat Forest department on Thursday for allegedly hunting 22 common dolphins off the coast of Porbandar.

Dolphin:

• Common dolphin, the most abundant cetacean in the world, is a species listed on the Schedule-2 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972 and hence a protected species in India.
• Indian Ocean humpback dolphins are social delphinids (oceanic dolphins) that live in groups averaging twelve individuals, although group size can be highly variable. The majority of their diet is composed of sciaenid fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Being near shore cetaceans, living in close proximity to coastal development and its repercussions, they experience high rates of mortality due to anthropogenic disturbances such as fisheries entanglement, environmental pollution, habitat loss and noise pollution.
• The IUCN lists the species as Globally Endangered and the Indian Government plans to propose the species to be listed as Appendix I of the CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals) in the next meeting of the CMS Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to be held in February 2020 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.