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solonavi 27 November 2006 Campaign, Coral Reefs, General 124 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

bbc

United Nations negotiations on fisheries have ended without a global ban on trawling methods which destroy coral reefs and fish nurseries.

Conservation groups and some governments had argued for a ban on bottom-trawling, which drags heavy nets and crushing rollers on the sea floor.

Negotiators could only agree on a limited set of precautionary measures.

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For three years, conservation groups have been pushing for a UN moratorium on bottom-trawling; for the third year running, they have been disappointed.

“We had been hoping the amazing creatures and habitats of the deep sea would get an early Christmas present this week,” said Bryce Beukers-Stewart, fisheries policy officer with the Marine Conservation Society.

“But once again, short-term political and economic interests have over-ridden common sense.”

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Eleven nations have bottom-trawling fleets, with Spain’s being the biggest. Studies have indicated that none would be commercially viable without government subsidies.

In 2004, a report compiled for the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and other environmental groups concluded that bottom-trawling was “…highly destructive to the biodiversity associated with seamounts and deep-sea coral ecosystems and… likely to pose significant risks to this biodiversity, including the risk of species extinction.”

In the same year, 1,100 scientists put their names to a petition supporting the demand for a moratorium.

All this scientific evidence could not convince enough UN delegates that a moratorium was needed.

The eventual deal which goes forward to the General Assembly mandates governments to adopt unilateral “precautionary measures” to ensure their bottom-trawlers do not cause significant damage to marine ecosystems.

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