Massacre of dolphins in Sri Lanka

For years, massacre of dolphins in Sri Lanka has occurred without any obstacles (?!). Reporter François Xavier Pelletier on a field trip brought evidence of the brutality of disregarding those international laws.

The iron hook just plugged into the dolphin's flesh. It struggled, trying to escape that strange enemy. The animal was pulled onto the deck, writhing in pain in a pool of blood. Hissing screams, the dolphin is like crying. The fishermen are preparing to have their stomach removed to remove iron blades.

(Photo: pbs.org) The Sri Lankan fishermen disagree with Europeans who spend money buying tickets to the aquariums to admire fish with eyes like humans. For them, the ' blue ocean ' is a huge food store. Moreover, they call dolphins a manatee.

To find out more, journalist François-Xavier Pelletier went to sea with them. The trip that he almost did not return.

'I was on a 10m long boat, there was no radio as well as a lifebuoy, only an old compass. They all depend on Captain Gamini and three fishermen, ' Pelletier said. From the moment of departure, they told him about boats lost both people and unknowns, or about fishermen who drifted to Marquises Island and were imprisoned. In the middle of the cabin was a huge gazole so we could only sleep in 3 people, others tried to rest beside the train. It made a loud noise 24 hours a day. And the tunnel is for ice storage. What I remember the most was the smell of oil, fish smell came up on the boat.

'Off the coast 170 miles, the engine is broken twice. With such a boat, any other sailor would return to the dock. But this is not possible for Sri Lankan fishermen who only live by sea. Imagine my horrors knowing that no one on the boat knows about machines. I have to fix it myself, there's no other way. "

'Like every night, the crew releases nets to catch fish. One day, a storm emerged, large never seen during my 25 years of sailing. The white sea cleared the foam, the waves covered the boat. The only way is to tie the bow to the net. If this rope is broken, the boat will be swept like a reed. Fishermen kneel in front of the Buddha altar to light incense prayers. The next morning, we found a dolphin who died due to mesh problems. Fishermen cut their flesh for shark bait. Then they eat the heart, see it as a premium dish '.

Sri Lankan fishermen often ask dolphins to find fish flows . They know that when there are dolphins on the surface of the sea, they can have tuna. But when they did not catch tuna, they turned to catch dolphins. Sometimes 5 boats can carry up to 65 dolphins. Port Beruwella has more than 200 fishing boats catching an average of 3,000 dolphins per year. But the value is not much: only 12 euros per child, 20 times cheaper than yellow tuna and 10 times cheaper than sharks.

The slaughter took place silently, despite the Sri Lankan Government signing a law establishing whales and dolphins in the Indian Ocean. And since 1993, an international agreement has imposed a maximum imprisonment of 2 years for those who kill, buy or sell dolphins and whales in that sea. But the result is almost zero. Because once Sri Lankan fishermen are not well equipped to catch tuna, when there is no fish thread detector, the tragedy for dolphins will continue.

Experts estimate that up to 30,000 dolphins are killed each year. Dolphins protection organizations are trying to call on the Sri Lankan Government to quickly take action to prevent catching dolphins.

Minh Luan