You Are Here:
West Norfolk Ridge international waters Tasman Sea/Crewman on the New Zealand bottom trawler Waipori dump a large piece of coral dredged from the deep sea in their net.
Enlarge image
June 8 is World Ocean Day, your chance to take action for our oceans!
Tomorrow, another world event begins, with smaller nets but much better television coverage. We wish our Australian soccer team well. But today our government gets a red card for not stopping fishing’s most destructive practice.
Every breath you take, an area the size of 10 soccer pitches is destroyed by huge bottom trawl nets. If allowed to continue, the bottom trawlers of the high seas will destroy deep sea species before we even discover much of what is down there.
For the Oceans World Cup, Greenpeace has compiled a league table of countries and their varying support to stop high seas bottom trawling. These countries have been discussing destructive bottom trawling for two years. Time is running out.
In November 2004, governments of the world agreed that bottom trawling was destroying deep sea habitats. They also promised to take "urgent action" to protect deep sea life. But, 18 months later, nothing has happened. It’s time countries announced their support for a global moratorium on high seas bottom trawling at the United Nations General Assembly in November, 2006.
These countries have voiced their support for a ban on high seas bottom trawling. On the Green Team are:
Sweden, Palau, Costa Rica, Belgium, Thailand, Austria, PNG, Fiji, Philippines, Indonesia, Cuba, Brazil, Netherlands, Denmark.
Sitting on the bench behind the Green Team are:
South Africa, Norway, Finland, UK and Mexico.
These countries deserve a red card for not voicing support for a ban on high seas bottom trawling. For the Red Team, we have:
Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Russian Federation, China, Japan, Canada, Portugal and South Korea.
Sitting on the bench behind the red team is US, France and Iceland
Unfortunately Australia, a champion for marine life and the oceans on many issues, is yet to declare a position. There are few Australian fishers in the bottom trawling industry, Still the government has refused to support any short term measures to protect the high seas at international meetings.
On our assessment, Australia gets a red card, alongside Spain, Japan, South Korea and the Russian Federation.
It's time for Australia to take a strong stand and support a global moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.
Tomorrow, another world event begins, with smaller nets but much better television coverage. We wish our Australian soccer team well. But today our government gets a red card for not stopping fishing’s most destructive practice.
Every breath you take, an area the size of 10 soccer pitches is destroyed by huge bottom trawl nets. If allowed to continue, the bottom trawlers of the high seas will destroy deep sea species before we even discover much of what is down there.
For the Oceans World Cup, Greenpeace has compiled a league table of countries and their varying support to stop high seas bottom trawling. These countries have been discussing destructive bottom trawling for two years. Time is running out.
In November 2004, governments of the world agreed that bottom trawling was destroying deep sea habitats. They also promised to take "urgent action" to protect deep sea life. But, 18 months later, nothing has happened. It’s time countries announced their support for a global moratorium on high seas bottom trawling at the United Nations General Assembly in November, 2006.
The Green Team
These countries have voiced their support for a ban on high seas bottom trawling. On the Green Team are:
Sweden, Palau, Costa Rica, Belgium, Thailand, Austria, PNG, Fiji, Philippines, Indonesia, Cuba, Brazil, Netherlands, Denmark.
Sitting on the bench behind the Green Team are:
South Africa, Norway, Finland, UK and Mexico.
The Red Team
These countries deserve a red card for not voicing support for a ban on high seas bottom trawling. For the Red Team, we have:
Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Russian Federation, China, Japan, Canada, Portugal and South Korea.
Sitting on the bench behind the red team is US, France and Iceland
Where does Australia sit?
Unfortunately Australia, a champion for marine life and the oceans on many issues, is yet to declare a position. There are few Australian fishers in the bottom trawling industry, Still the government has refused to support any short term measures to protect the high seas at international meetings.
On our assessment, Australia gets a red card, alongside Spain, Japan, South Korea and the Russian Federation.
It's time for Australia to take a strong stand and support a global moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.
SIGN UP: Become an ocean defender and help save deep sea life.
TAKE ACTION: Send the Australian government a red card.
