Three Greenpeace activists have been arrested after occupying a Talley’s bottom trawling vessel early this morning in Nelson.
Greenpeace activists occupied the Amaltal Columbia in protest of Talley’s industrial fishing practices. The organisation has labelled Talley’s an ‘ocean killer’ over the destruction caused to the sea floor by bottom trawling.
Greenpeace spokesperson Juan Parada says “These brave people have taken a stand for ocean health in delaying this vessel from leaving port to go bottom trawling.”
One Greenpeace activist, attached to the stern of the boat, held a banner reading ‘ocean killer’, while others boarded the vessel and climbed to the gantry.
© Bryce Groves / Greenpeace
“Bottom trawling is a highly destructive fishing practice that wreaks havoc on ocean life,” says Parada.
“If we want healthy oceans for the future, bottom trawling must stop in the places it does the most harm – and that’s why we’re demanding an end to bottom trawling on seamounts.
“Today, these activists have taken a stand to disrupt this fishing method, in the face of a fishing industry that profits from trashing the ocean and a government that’s willing to condone the industry’s actions.”
“Talley’s have left a trail of destruction from New Zealand waters right across the high seas of the Tasman and into Australia. Their trawl nets turn precious coral into rubble, and kill ocean life from sharks, to fur seals, dolphins, and seabirds. This must end.”
Earlier this year, Greenpeace activists confronted bottom trawling vessels at sea, painting the words ‘Ocean Killer’ on the hull of Talley’s Amaltal Atlantis and Sealord’s Ocean Dawn. The organisation says it will continue to hold bottom trawlers to account over their destruction of the oceans.
