More than a quarter of a million dolphins die every year through by-catch from fisheries, pollution or underwater noise like marine sonar. This was reason for UNEP to declare 2007 as the UN Year of the Dolphin, to which EUCC was a Partner. In YoD’07 EUCC created a dedicated fund raising mechanism, the Dolphin Fund.

As a follow-up, EUCC initiated a campaign to reduce by-catch of dolphins from fisheries by promoting the application of improved pingers, in close cooperation with fishermen. In a first experimental project 2009-’10 involving Dutch fishermen the new generation Dolphin Savers from the Dutch company Save Wave are being applied in those types of fisheries that bear serious risks of by-catch of cetaceans.

EUCC is also preparing other experimental projects in the Mediterranean involving other dolphin species. In order to avoid the collapse of dolphin populations and the extinction of species, € 2.5 million are needed for the next three years.