The Esperanza spent two weeks on the nose and tail of the Grand
Banksand the Flemish Cap in international waters. Greenpeace
observed 20bottom trawlers (1), and documented the fishing
activities of half ofthese. Campaigners boarded five of the
trawlers to discuss a UnitedNations moratorium on high seas bottom
trawling.
"We witnessed example after example of bad management,
overfishing, anddestruction of deep-sea life and habitat from heavy
fishing gear beingdragged over the seabed. We saw an indifference
to the need to protectvulnerable and fragile ecosystems as well as
suspect operators, such asthe Lootus II, which are linked to
illegal fishing in other parts ofthe globe," said Bunny McDiarmid,
Greenpeace International OceansCampaigner. "If the Northwest
Atlantic Fisheries Organization(NAFO) (1) believes that this is the
best example of a regionalfisheries management organisation at
work, then our ocean ecosystemsare in very serious trouble."
"We witnessed starfish, sponge, capelin, anemones, juvenile
redfish andeelpout in the grates of the trawl nets, and as one
skipper said, nomatter how much you try and reduce bycatch, the
nets cannotdiscriminate which fish they catch," added
McDiarmid.
The Spanish trawlers in the Greenland halibut fishery refused
todiscard their bycatch while Greenpeace was filming and one vessel
theLootus II kept its nets on the bottom for 18 hours to avoid
haulingwhile Greenpeace was watching. Greenland halibut is on a 15
yearrebuilding plan, which is already seen by many as too little
too late.
"Canada and Norway's call for reform within NAFO is
absolutelymeaningless without a moratorium on bottom trawling being
in placewhile these changes are discussed, agreed and implemented,"
said MarkButler of the Ecology Action Centre. "Reform will take
time. Timescientists say deep-sea life does not have. Without a
moratorium onhigh seas bottom trawling there may be nothing left to
manage orprotect."
Greenpeace highlighted the mismanagement by NAFO during actions
againstIcelandic, Spanish and Estonian bottom trawlers in the
shrimp andGreenland halibut fisheries. The actions exposed the
irresponsibleattitude of NAFO and its member states such as
Canada.
Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organisation, which
usesnon-violent, creative confrontation to expose global
environmentalproblems, and to force the solutions which are
essential to a green andpeaceful future.
Other contacts: Andrew Male, Greenpeace Canada Communications Coordinator, + 416-880-2757Racine Tucker-Hamilton, Greenpeace International media officer, +1 202-436-1039
Notes: (1) The 20 trawlers were registered as Lithuanian, Spanish, Estonian, Latvian, Portuguese, Japanese, Portugal and Faroe Islands. (2) Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Management Organisation
Exp. contact date: 2005-08-19 00:00:00