For 5.5 months of the current year, 416 marine mammalian stranding on the coast of the peninsula were recorded in the occupied Crimea. For comparison, for the whole of 2019 (from January to December), beaching of 468 marine mammals were recorded. This was reported by the Center for the Study, Rescue and Rehabilitation of Marine Mammals Tranquil Sea.
“In total, more than 1,600 mass beaching has already been since the beginning of our monitoring system; pronounced mortality peaks stably occur during months of active industrial fishing, and most fresh cetacean remains exhibit damage and pathological changes characteristic of human fishing activities”,- the report said.
The organization noted that they sent a request to the Federal Agency for Fishery with a request to report on the number of cases of dolphin by-catch known to them over the same period. From the response, it follows that this year the agency was informed about dolphin by-catch only 1 time, volunteers said.