Yesterday in New York, actress Sigourney Weaver presented some hard facts about the practice of bottom trawling during the UN Consultative Process on the Law of the Sea (ICP). Namely - it is killing deep sea ecological systems and they may never recover. She did this through the latest Greenpeace documentary 'The Bottom Line' which she narrates and which outlines just what is at stake if action against bottom trawling is further delayed.
In case UN delegates needed further convincing, copies of Weaver's well-known film 'Aliens' were also handed out during the presentation - in order to make it clear just what can happen when you mess with Sigourney Weaver.
In fact, this didn't happen. But - I think we should keep it in mind if action isn't taken soon. I'm serious. (I was also considering making the title for this post, 'Sigourney to bottom trawlers: "Get away from our deep sea ecosystems, you b*tch!"' - but I wasn't sure how many people would get the 'Aliens' inside joke. Or how many people would be put off by the cursing.)
You should watch the film. It features footage of sting rays and 1000-year-old coral - and all kinds of other awesome stuff being destroyed by bottom trawling.