Daily Times

KARACHI: World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan (WWF) trained fishermen safely released a 2-metre long Pantropical spotted dolphin back into the sea.

The dolphin had gotten entangled in their gillnet while operating in the Indus Canyon on Tuesday. The fishermen team was led by Ameer Badshah, the captain of a tuna fishing boat. Ameer Badshah and his crew cut the fishing net to disentangle the dolphin from the net and then managed to safely release it.

Pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenellaattenuata) locally known as “Tushuk” in Balochi and “Gokin” in Sindhi is found in all temperate and tropical oceans around the world. It is considered to be very active in making large, splashy leaps from the sea.

It is believed that coastal and offshore dolphins are prone to anthropogenic factors including commercial fishing, habitat degradation, vessel traffic and other coastal development activities. Population of this species in the Southeast Asian region including those in Pakistan are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species the pantropical spotted dolphin is categorised as ‘least concern’.

Three fishermen namely Ghulam Mustafa, Ghulam Sarwer and Ghulam Murtaza facilitated by WWF-Pakistan trained Abdul Qayoom also released a 1.5 metre long Indian Ocean humpback dolphin which was entangled in their gillnet when operating in Nandi Bandar, MianiHor, Lasbella district on Sunday.

According to WWF’s Technical Advisor Muhammad Moazzam Khan, the population of Pantropical spotted dolphins is believed to have declined in Pakistan. It is one of the common dolphins that become entangled in fishing nets operating in coastal and offshore waters. A few years back, dolphin mortality in the gillnet fisheries was estimated to be about 12,000 annually.

However, to address this issue WWF-Pakistan raised awareness among fisher communities on the use of subsurface gillnet in offshore waters which resulted in phenomenal decrease in the mortality of dolphins. It is estimated that now only about 30 to 40 dolphins die annually as a result of gillnet operations. It is estimated that at present there are about 8,700 gillnet vessels operating in coastal and offshore waters; of which about 700 fish in offshore waters.

Once entangled, dolphins drown and die immediately. However, in a few cases, entangled dolphins have survived on board fishing vessels. WWF-Pakistan has trained more than 100 fishermen to safely release such dolphins.

Dr Babar Khan, the regional director of Sindh and Balochistan WWF-Pakistan lauded the efforts of the fishermen in releasing the pantropical spotted dolphin. He pointed out that fishermen are now well aware of the importance of such threatened species.

Since 2012, WWF-Pakistan has trained fishermen to safely release endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species. Through this programme 78 whale sharks, 51 mobulids, 29 sunfish, 9 dolphins, 5 whales, 33 sea snakes, 5 masked boobies (seabirds) and thousands of marine turtles have been released. “WWF-Pakistan is expanding this programme to cover other fisheries such as trawling, coastal gillnetting and seining,” he added.

The safe release of the pantropical spotted dolphin is a good omen for the conservation of protected species, as dolphins are now protected under Sindh and Balochistan fisheries legislations as well as under Balochistan (Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act, 2014.

WWF-Pakistan has developed an action plan for the protection of cetaceans in 2013 which was endorsed by all major stakeholders. There is now a need to adopt and implement this action plan, which will ensure protection of cetaceans including dolphins, porpoises and whales in Pakistani waters.

Published in Daily Times, October 25^th 2018.