Supertrawlers which are able to drag mile-long nets across the sea bed, catching thousands of tons of fish a day, have been spotted off the Sussex coast.
The Brighton Dolphin Project were concerned after nine of the monster vessels were spotted in the English Channel on Wednesday (December 9).
According to information by Marine Traffic, the vessels are Allida, Carolien, Frank Bonefaas, Annie Hillina, Afrika, Dirk Dirk, Prins Bernhard, Scombrus and The Helen Mary.
Some of these are as long as twelve double decker buses, and able to carry 6,400 tons of fish.
Thea Taylor, Research and Sightings coordinator at the Brighton Dolphin Project, said:
"They trawl using massive nets, and they trawl at a fast pace as well so they destroy all the marine life int he area of their trawl net.
"And then they discard their unwanted bycatch, which could be hundreds of tons in a day.
"Just by looking at the rates of bycatch, the size of the nets really - it's just like a massive vacuum that's trawling through our oceans.
"From our point of view, the number of dolphins we see deceased on our shores dramatically increases when the supertrawlers are around."
The charity has tracked deceased dolphins since the beginning of 2019, and all but three of the fifteen incidents happened while supertrawlers were in the area.
The latest incident was a Harbour Porpoise washed up at Cuckmere Haven on Sunday (December 6).
Prior to that, Common Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises have been found stranded with signs of net injuries in Selsey, Lancing and Black Rock.
It's not clear if all of the mammals were thrown back as bycatch but this is the main worry from conservationists, that the massive nets scrape up the sea bed ruining the ecosystem and catching all kinds of sea life that cannot be commercially sold on.
Thea said none of the vessels are UK owned, and they are fishing just off UK waters so they are within their rights to fish there.
Thea added:
"The issues we have is them fishing in marine protected zones, where the sea bed is protected.
"With them fishing and taking out all the animals in the ecosystem around it, it massively impacts the areas that we're trying to protect."
Thea said anyone wanting to help should buy their fish sustainably.
She explained:
"Really look at where you're getting your seafood from. A lot of the fish from these boats is exported.
"You can make sure you're buying your fish from a local small fisherman who is trying to do sustainably sourced fishing.
"These local fishermen care about the fish stocks, they care whether there are fish there for generations to come - but these supertrawlers do not.
"If you really want to help, talk to your local MP and try and get the issue raised in parliament.
"Obviously they're discussing fisheries with the EU during Brexit negotiations, so now's a really good time to put pressure on for the UK to lead the way in ocean conservation."
A spokesperson from the charity said a fleet of nine is as many as he has ever been aware of.
At least two were recorded in the channel every day since November 18, apart from December 3.
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