Bahrain: 3 fined over capturing dolphins
The dolphins were caught to stage shows; boat used in fishing seized
Cairo: A Bahraini court had ordered three persons to pay a fine of BD1,000 each after it convicted them of illegally catching dolphins in the country’s territorial waters, a senior prosecutor has said.
The verdict was passed by the Major Criminal Court, which also ordered the boat used in fishing be confiscated and the caught dolphins returned to their natural habitat to protect them from extinction, the chief of the ministries’ prosecution added.
Initially, the three defendants were acquitted by a lower court, prompting an appeal from prosecution against the ruling.
The case started when the Bahraini coastguards notified public prosecution that the trio had caught the marine mammals in violation of the country’s rules and handed them over to a facility staging dolphin shows, Akhbar Al Khaleej reported.
Three dolphins were seized there in the place.
“Prohibition of dolphin catching in the territorial waters is part of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s constitution to preserve the environment and natural wealth against degradation,” the chief prosecutor said.