Sir, - I'm afraid your correspondent Maurice Carey (August 27th) is well intentioned, but not quite correct, in his conclusions regarding long line fishing as practised by the Japanese.
These lines are baited with squid in order to attract tuna, and certainly reduce the likelihood of other species being caught, notably dolphins. However, one of the unfortunate effects of this is that large seabirds such as albatrosses are attracted to the hooks, as squid is one of their staple foods. The birds become caught on the hooks and are killed.
This practice has contributed to the decline of several species of albatross in the Pacific. Fortunately, albatrosses don't normally occur in the North Atlantic, so it is purely fortuitous that long lines don't have adverse affects off our coasts.
His criticism of netting tuna is also misplaced. Dolphins don't normally associate with tuna in the North Atlantic. The phenomenon of schooling with tuna is confined to certain species of Pacific dolphins, so drift netting in the North Atlantic is unlikely to have any adverse affect on dolphins here. Yours, etc
The Village,
Bettyglen,
Dublin 5.