Please sign and share this petition worldwide in an effort to speak out to India and demand they stop their new practice of Electro-fishing in Burma that is not only useful in fishing but is also killing the rare, extinct Irrawaddy River Dolphins. Such illegal tactics is also robbing the dolphins of their main food source; fish. Why are they not fishing with nets and poles like other people rather than using an electric type pole that is literally stunning the fish and killing the dolphins?
Electro-fishing is a new and illegal technique in which rogue fishermen send an electric current through the water to stun fish, making them easier to scoop up in bunches. This new tactic is not only depleting the fish stocks that feed the already endangered Irrawaddy dolphins but has inadvertently killed some of them. Although these dolphins traditionally helped fishermen by rounding up fish for their catch, some of the dolphins are now wary of these practices on the river.
Conservationists believe that this new and illegal practice of electro-fishing is posing a threat to the Irrawaddy river dolphins and can result in similar circumstances that occurred to the baiji dolphins in the China Yangtze River, also due to electro-fishing. They too became extinct as declared eight years ago and if they continue with electro-fishing in the waters of Burma, the Irrawaddy River Dolphins will also be in danger of extinction in the coming years.
The Irrawaddy River Dolphins have worked cooperatively with fishermen in this river area for generations by rounding up fish and snatching up the ones that try to wiggle out of the nets being pulled up. This process, in 2007 resulted in a catch of about 60 pounds of fish with the help of the dolphins opposed to 11 pounds without. However, it is believed that the relationship with the dolphins is dwindling but the use of electro-fishing, that is now a practice for the past 10 years is putting a scare in the dolphins and presenting a threat to their existence.
Electro-fishing is illegal in Myanmar, carrying a three-year prison sentence and a fine, but those penalties aren't enough to stop the battery-powered marauders. These fishermen still want to use the traditional call of the dolphins except that when the dolphins respond and begin to round up fish, they too get stunned with the electro-rods or worse! Electro-fishing also jeopardizes the dolphins, reducing their food supply and giving them what may be life-threatening jolts of electricity.
We are asking for your help in banning electro-fishing that is putting the Irrawaddy River Dolphins in danger of extinction by signing and sharing this petition worldwide. Let us save these sweet animals from sure and electrifying death.
The Myanmar's Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries, and Rural Development & Myanmar Government Officials - It appears that electro-fishing is illegal; yet it is still practiced and puts the Irrawaddy River Dolphins in danger of extinction. Please enforce your laws against the use of electro-fishing and punish offenders that are putting this already rare, endangered dolphin in more danger of extinction. Stop this electrifying practice of catching fish that is catching less but endangering these sweet and necessary Irrawaddy River Dolphins.
