Gwadar Development Authority official confirms marine species died after getting trapped in fishing net
An Indo-Pacific finless dolphin was found dead off the coast of Gwadar in Balochistan after being “caught and entangled” in a fishing net on Monday, the deputy director of Environment at the Gwadar Development Authority confirmed. Abdur Raheem.
“The fishermen brought the dolphin to shore without releasing it from the fishing net and then left it there because it had no commercial value,” the official said, adding that dolphins play an important role in the marine ecosystem.
Meanwhile, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Technical Advisor Muhammad Moazzam Khan termed the incident as the first case of entanglement and mortality of porpoises in Pakistan due to bottom gill nets used to catch catfish, small croaker and other marine species.
“These porpoises live close to the coast and therefore frequently get entangled in fishing nets,” Khan said, while warning about the decline in the species' population in the country.
Last year, at least six Indo-Pacific finless porpoises died due to entanglement in gillnets in Pakistan, of which three had reached Gwadar, he added citing data available from the WWF.
This is not the first incident where fishing nets have caused the death of a marine species, as a 27-foot-long Bryde's whale was found dead near the coast of Balochistan in a remote area of Raini Hor between Pasni and Shumal Bundar.
