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Taken by a fisheries observer on board a NZ bottom trawler, this photo shows a large piece of red coral being hoisted out of a bottom trawl net. (Note more coral in the net).
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Bottom trawling: EU, Russia, South Korea and Canada - the world is watching you.
We have been campaigning for a moratorium on bottom trawling for three years. Our supporters and Ocean Defenders have been behind us all the way. This year alone we have delivered over 200,000 emails, letters and postcards to the decision-makers around the planet. Over 1,500 marine scientists have signed a petition for the world to act and with our supporters we have managed to shift a majority of the world’s governments to support the moratorium.
The fishing nations in the northern hemisphere prevented the protection of the South Pacific. This goes to show that if left to decide for themselves, Fisheries meetings like this will never deliver effective and fast protection to ocean life. The UN needs to intervene.
So in the next few weeks the world’s governments could take the first and comprehensive step towards reversing this trend of decline. By protecting the high seas from destructive and unsustainable bottom trawling the world would be taking a big step towards protecting biodiversity and the habitats that fish depend on. The moratorium would be the first step needed towards the establishment of a network of marine reserves – no take areas- that the Worm study has highlighted as a solution to reverse the 2048 scenario.
At the moment, the EU -- under the influence of Spain -- as well as Canada are opposed to this. Let them know the world will be watching as they set our course for 2048 … will they choose sustainability, or simply salty water?
We have been campaigning for a moratorium on bottom trawling for three years. Our supporters and Ocean Defenders have been behind us all the way. This year alone we have delivered over 200,000 emails, letters and postcards to the decision-makers around the planet. Over 1,500 marine scientists have signed a petition for the world to act and with our supporters we have managed to shift a majority of the world’s governments to support the moratorium.
It's looking good for the deep-sea life?
Not exactly. This week’s meeting in Hobart, Australia, should have decided to protect the irreplaceable ecosystems of the deep-sea bed from the relentless march of bottom trawlers. Instead, stubborn opposition from South Korea, Russia and the EU repeatedly blocked proposals supported by Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Pacific Island States and the US, which aimed to protect deep sea life from bottom trawling.The fishing nations in the northern hemisphere prevented the protection of the South Pacific. This goes to show that if left to decide for themselves, Fisheries meetings like this will never deliver effective and fast protection to ocean life. The UN needs to intervene.
Doomsday data – no seafood by 2048?
To show what is at stake here, read this article published just last week in the journal Science. Esteemed Canadian marine biologist Boris Worm published a landmark paper. He reported that human activities, such as destructive fishing practices, have resulted in plummeting catches of wild fish, with projections of a global collapse of all commercial fish and seafood species by 2048 if things continue as at present. The good news is that data suggest that this trend is still reversible – if we act now.So in the next few weeks the world’s governments could take the first and comprehensive step towards reversing this trend of decline. By protecting the high seas from destructive and unsustainable bottom trawling the world would be taking a big step towards protecting biodiversity and the habitats that fish depend on. The moratorium would be the first step needed towards the establishment of a network of marine reserves – no take areas- that the Worm study has highlighted as a solution to reverse the 2048 scenario.
Take action!
Next week the UN begins negotiations on a moratorium for high-seas bottom trawling. Such a moratorium would constitute the single largest act of habitat protection in human history, covering an estimated 67 million square miles of ocean, an area larger than all of the world's continents combined.At the moment, the EU -- under the influence of Spain -- as well as Canada are opposed to this. Let them know the world will be watching as they set our course for 2048 … will they choose sustainability, or simply salty water?
Tell Spain & the EU to vote for a moratorium
