The fishing boat Santa Cristina, from Portugal, bottom trawls for Deep Sea Red Fish (Sabastes Marinus) at depths of 650 meters in the North Atlantic Ocean.
"Murky Waters: hauling in the net on Europe's high seas bottom
trawlingfleet" documents the destructive activities of high
seas bottomtrawlers observed fishing in the North Atlantic by
Greenpeace in 2004and 2005.
Several of the vessels had been cited breaking the few rules
that doexist in these fisheries, yet all continued to fish. All of
the vesselsobserved were either owned by European nationals or fly
the flags ofEuropean states.
High seas bottom trawling is recognised as the most destructive
of allfishing methods. Using weighted nets, which are dragged
across theocean floor to catch and crush everything in their path,
the practiceleaves valuable marine habitats as wastelands and
devastatesvulnerable, slow-growing deep-sea fish stocks.
According to the Greenpeace report, only a few hundred ships
areresponsible for devastating huge areas of the world's oceans,
with 60%of these vessels flagged to EU Member States, principally
Spain,Denmark and France.
"European interests are fuelling what is recognized as one of
thegreatest threats to marine life: unregulated high seas bottom
trawling"said Greenpeace oceans campaigner, Sari Tolvanen, of
Greenpeace. "Thereport shows that Europe is a leading deep-sea
destroyer. This can andmust change.
European governments hold the key to the protection of deep-sea
life:by supporting a United Nations moratorium on high seas bottom
trawlingthese countries could ensure that these rich ecosystems are
saved fromruin. The economic cost of a moratorium on high seas
bottom trawlingwould be negligible compared to the protection
provided to deep-sealife - which is priceless."
The Report coincides with the ministerial-level OECD Task Force
meetingon high seas illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU)
fishing, whichis due to reveal how it plans to further discuss the
problem of piratefishing.
Just last month, the 25 states that make up the European Union
stood upat the United Nations and said that urgent action was
needed to combattwo of the biggest threats to marine life:
destructive deep-sea fishingand illegal fishing. "Words are fine,
but action is better," said RemiParmentier of the Deep Sea
Conservation Coalition, a consortium of morethan 50 NGOs worldwide
set up to promote a UN high seas bottom trawlingmoratorium. "The EU
must now put its money where its mouth is andimmediately announce
that it will support the proposed United NationsGeneral Assembly
moratorium on high seas bottom trawling."
"The unregulated bottom trawlers exposed in the Greenpeace
Report arejust one facet of a broader picture of destruction
spanning all of theworld's oceans. All of it leads back to the
failure of governments toact effectively to regulate illegal
fishing," said Tolvanen ofGreenpeace.
Earlier this week the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, set sail from
CapeTown, South Africa as part of the year-long 'Defending Our
OceansExpedition' to highlight the threats to the oceans and demand
that 40%be declared no-take marine reserves, to safeguard marine
life. Over thenext few months, in partnership with the
Environmental JusticeFoundation, the Esperanza will expose how
fishing pirates in theAtlantic are wiping out marine life and
destroying the livelihoods ofthe communities dependent on our
oceans for food.
The report is available on line at
www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/murky-waters
Other contacts: Sari Tolvanen Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner +358 505 014 472 Remi Parmentier, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition +34 637 557 357
Notes: Greenpeace is a member of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, an alliance of more than 50 international environmental and conservation organisations which are seeking a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.Greenpeace and the Environmental Justice Foundation are working together to expose the pirate fishing fleets that operate without sanction across the globe. Together the international environment and human rights organisations are demanding that governments close ports to ban pirates, deny them access to markets and prosecute companies supporting them.
Exp. contact date: 2006-03-13 00:00:00