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Moratorium I Momentum I Recent
Action I Enforcement I Duration I RFMOs I Six
Reasons
Recent Action
Greenpeace crew member onboard mv Esperanza, holding a large spider crab that caught and killed by EU bottom trawler Playa de Mendui–a, fishing in the Hatton Bank, NE Atlantic, 24/10/2004.
© Greenpeace/Kate Davison
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Recent action taken around the world to protect deep sea habitats from bottom trawling
US announces plans to establish world's largest marine protected area, June 2006
At the 7th UN Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea, the US announced President George W. Bush's intention to establish the world's largest marine protected area - over 84 million acres - to safeguard a remote, biologically rich string of islands and submerged islands, including seamounts, known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), the most intact tropical marine ecosystems under US jurisdiction. (1)
Kiribati creates first marine park with deep-sea habitat, March 2006
At CBD COP8 in Brazil, the Pacific island nation of Kiribati announced the creation of the first marine park with deep-sea habitat, including underwater mountains (seamounts). The reserve, covering 184,700 square kilometres will also be the world's third largest marine reserve. Commercial fishing will be banned in the reserve, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, to protect more than 120 species of coral and 520 species of fish.
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Palau bans bottom trawling in national waters, March 2006
On the 22 March, Palau's President Remengesau signed into domestic law, a ban on bottom trawling making the practice in Palau's waters or by any citizen of Palau anywhere in the world, illegal. More
Bottom trawling banned off United States' West Coast, March 2006
Fishery regulators have banned bottom trawling in nearly 150,000 square miles of federal waters off the West Coast of the United States. The 150,000 square miles where trawling was banned were listed as "essential fish habitat," a designation that requires federal agencies to try to protect them.
Trawl fishing is already limited in California state waters and banned in Washington waters. Other types of fishing are allowed in the no-trawl zones. Environmentalists said trawling has contributed to an economic disaster resulting from overfishing and poor ocean conditions. The trawling decision was designed to protect coral beds, kelp forests, rocky reefs and other sensitive fish habitat from damage by weighted nets used to scoop up bottom-dwelling species. More
West Coast Seafloor Protection Bittersweet, Oceana / NOAA
Sensitive deep sea coral reefs protected in the Mediterranean, January 2006
Three ecologically-important deep sea areas have been protected off the waters of Italy, Cyprus and Egypt, following a recent decision by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM).
The decision requires all Mediterranean states to prevent bottom trawling fishing fleets from operating in the designated areas. These include the deepwater coral reef off Capo Santa Maria di Leuca, Italy, in the Ionian Sea, which is home to the rare white coral, Lophelia, as well as a Chemosynthesis-based ecosystem (an ecosystem that does not depend on the sun as a source of energy) offshore from the Nile Delta, and the spectacular Eratosthenes seamount, south of Cyprus, which hosts rare coral species. (2)
European Union, October 2004
The European General Affairs Council adopted a proposal from the European Commission for urgent measures to protect deep-sea coral reefs around the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Although this is a temporary solution until a proposal for long-term protection can be considered, it is a welcome development in the protection of fragile deep-sea ecosystems and the rich life that they support. The DSCC urged the EU to follow its own example and do the same on the high seas.
United States, February 2005
Seeking to protect deep-sea coral beds and other sensitive fish habitats, a United States federal fishing council banned bottom trawling in more than 370,000 square miles off Alaska's Aleutian Islands. This is the largest area of ocean in the world placed off limits to destructive bottom trawling.
GFCM bans bottom trawling in the Mediterranean, February 2005
At a meeting in Rome, the GFCM banned bottom trawling below a depth of 1000 meters in the Mediterranean. The measure is legally binding since it was adopted under Article V of the GFCM Agreement, and will enter into force in July 2005. The measure was adopted by consensus by all members of the GFCM, which include: Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, EC, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey.
Notes
(1) Environmentalists Praise Bush's Action to Create the World's Largest Marine Protected Area: North-western Hawaiian Islands Sanctuary, 15 June 2006, Joint press release from MCBI, Environmental Defense, KAHEA and `Ilio`ulaokalani Coalition.
(2) Sensitive deep sea coral reefs protected for the first time in the Mediterranean, 30 January 2006, WWF
Borg: new measures by regional Mediterranean fisheries organisation will strengthen sustainable fishing practices in the region, 31 January 2006, European Commission press release
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