A team from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza documents catch being landed on board a Spanish bottom trawler, the Ivan Nores.
A team from our ship Esperanza, braving gales and stormy
weather, documented the destruction caused by a Spanish bottom
trawler, the Ivan Nores, in the North Atlantic near Ireland. Bottom
trawling is the most destructive fishing method happening today,
and we have the proof.
The footage from the Esperanza is stunning even to seasoned
marine biologists: copious amounts of "bycatch" destroyed by the
bottom trawling nets included huge red squid, rays, dogfish,
starfish and crustaceans. Fish caught included roundnose grenadier
and Baird's smoothead, both of which are extremely vulnerable to
fishing pressure.
Check out the footage for
yourself!
Quicktime
Real Media
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All talk no action?
Meanwhile,
at the UN in New York, diplomats are talking about the protection
of marine life in these international waters. A resolution on the
issue is up for discussion in early November. But we think that all
this talk is getting us nowhere. "Every day wasted just discussing
the need for action is possibly another deep sea habitat gone. The
UN must act to stop destructive fishing and save the giant squid
and thousands of other marine animals," said Maria Jose Caballero,
a campaigner on board the Esperanza.
Bottom-trawling
boats, mainly from EU countries, drag fishing gear weighing several
tonnes across the sea bed, destroying everything in their path,
including marine wildlife such as coral, and devastating life on
underwater mountains - or 'seamounts'. Seamounts are usually in the
high seas (outside individual countries' economic zones) so these
boats are effectively stealing future resources from all of us with
absolutely no regulations.
Something's fishy at the EU
Scientists and environmentalists are calling for an immediate
moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. However it seems that the
EU is continuing to defy both science and logic by not only
blocking international progress towards protecting deep sea life,
but, as the Esperanza has undeniably pointed out, actively
participating in this destruction.
Damage control
Greenpeace is a member of the Deep Sea
Conservation Coalition, an international alliance of
organisations, representing millions of people in countries around
the world, which is calling for a moratorium on high seas bottom
trawling. Right now we are ratcheting up the pressure on UN
delegates, particularly from the EU, to ensure that this moratorium
happens - international media such as The Financial Times (subscribers only), Wired magazine and the Irish Times (subscribers only) have been
picking up the story as well as TV news from Australia to the
Netherlands.
We need your help! Make sure you let your foreign minister know
what you think about bottom trawling by taking part in our Vote for
Squid campaign.
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