Page - July 23, 2007
After years of tireless campaigning, we've achieved a significant victory in our fight to stop bottom trawling in the international waters of the South Pacific.
Greenpeace wants a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling, because of the vast amount of marine life that is destroyed by this fishing method.
08-06-2005: NW Challenger Plateau Tasman Sea: Greenpeace activists from the Rainbow Warrior (background) attach bouys to the cod end of the trawl net from the deep sea bottom trawler 'Ocean Reward'.
08-06-2005: NW Challenger Plateau Tasman Sea: Greenpeace activists use wire cables to tie the trawl doors together on the bottom trawler Ocean Reward.
12-06-2005, West Norfolk Ridge, Tasman Sea: A 400 year old Paragorgia coral being hauled aboard the New Zealand bottom trawler Waipori.
The breakthrough happened at a meeting in Chile in May, where
delegates from more than 20 countries met to discuss the creation
of a new regional fisheries management organization for the South
Pacific.
In an unprecedented move, delegates agreed to new conservation
and management measures to ensure deep sea ecosystems are protected
from the destruction caused by bottom trawling. The measures put
the burden of proof on each government whose fishing fleets bottom
trawl in the region to show damage won't be done to vulnerable deep
sea ecosystems.
New Zealand put forward the initial proposal, which after three
days of deliberations was unanimously supported. This was a
courageous move, given New Zealand boats do 90% of the bottom
trawling in the region.
Greenpeace has been saying for years that the indiscriminate
destruction of deep-sea life in international waters by bottom
trawling must stop. As fish become increasingly scarce in coastal
waters, industrial bottom trawlers are going ever deeper and
further afield to maintain their catches. Bottom trawling is like
mining the deep-sea - like ploughing through an entire forest with
a bulldozer in order to capture one species of bird. The result is
the destruction of swathes of highly sensitive natural
environments. These extremely vulnerable areas include ancient
coral forests, fragile sponge communities and a myriad of other
forms of life, much of which are not yet understood, let alone
identified.
Now, thanks to the tireless campaigning of a whole lot of
people, we have the breakthrough we needed.
The new measures that emerged from Chile come into force on 30
September. They mean the New Zealand fleet will have to stop bottom
trawling where there are or are likely to be vulnerable ecosystems
that could be damaged. They're restricted to fishing only in areas
where they've fished in the past and cannot move into any new
areas. Each bottom trawler must carry a scientific observer on
board and an accurate vessel location tracking system. If, during
the course of fishing, the observer finds any evidence of an
encounter with a vulnerable marine ecosystem, the vessel must stop
fishing immediately and move away at least five nautical miles.
All this will severely constrain the ability of the New Zealand
fishing industry to continue bottom trawling on the high seas
around New Zealand, because of the cost implications of the
necessary research and assessment and observer requirements. It may
even have the effect of putting an end to high seas bottom trawling
in the high seas around New Zealand for good.
It's up to the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries to put the
agreement into effect. The fishing industry will certainly be doing
all it can to get the government to back down from its commitments.
But we'll be watching closely to ensure this doesn't happen. We'll
keep you informed!
Find out more about the meeting and the outcomes at:
www.southpacificrfmo.org