Source: The UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
Available in English.
1st December 2004
Publications
The deep ocean is increasingly recognized as a major global reservoir of the Earth’s biodiversity, comparable to the biodiversity associated with tropical rainforests and shallow-water coral reefs. Though only a small fraction of the oceans’ ecosystems found at depths below 200 meters have been studied, research has revealed remarkably high levels of biodiversity and endemism. Estimates of the numbers of species inhabiting the deep ocean range between 500,000 and 100 million.
Available in English.
Deep-Sea Fishing, High Seas
English
1st November 2004
Statement to the UnitedNations General Assembly on behalf of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC).
Available in English.
Deep-Sea Fishing, High Seas
English
1st November 2004
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is discussing proposals to provide urgent protection for the biodiversity of the deep seas from destructive activities, most specifically from high seas bottom trawl fishing. The European Union has proposed language that is significantly weaker than what it has already agreed to do within the context of the Northeast Atlantic. Moreover, the EU proposal fails to reflect the fundamental commitments and obligations of the European Union and its member States as parties to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (FSA), the Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS), and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Available in English.
Deep-Sea Fishing, European Union, High Seas, Policy
English
1st October 2004
The global race to fish the deep seas is, in many ways, a story of haves and have nots.
As coastal fisheries have grown more and more depleted, fleets from more developed nations are increasingly combing deep international waters in search of commercial fish and
crustacean species. More powerful engines,
more precise mapping, advanced navigational and fish-finding electronics, stronger and lighter synthetic materials – all of these developments have made it possible to bottom trawl in seas up to two kilometers (1.2 miles) deep. As a result, trawling has become the dominant high seas bottom fishing method, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the total high seas bottom fisheries catch in 2001.
Available in: English and English US standard.
Deep-Sea Fishing, High Seas
English
1st September 2004
During the past several decades, it has become possible to plow up deep- sea ecosystems that have existed for millennia, if not longer. Today, as a result, well-capitalized fleets from a handful of wealthier nations1 are destroying some of the planet’s last, most ecologically rich frontiers in search of commercial fish and crustacean species.
Until relatively recently, fishing the deep sea’s rugged floors and canyons was impossible. Advances in bottom trawl technology, however, have put the unreachable within reach. More powerful engines, bigger nets, more precise mapping, more advanced navigational and fish-finding electronics have enabled fishing vessels to drag fishing gear across the ocean bottom as much as two kilometers (1.2 miles) deep. Bottom trawling is, in fact, now the preferred method for fishing the ocean bottom on the high seas, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the total high seas bottom fisheries catch in 2001.
Available in: English, English US standard, Spanish.
Deep-Sea Fishing, High Seas
English
1st September 2004
At present, deep-sea1 bottom trawling on the high seas (the 64 percent of the oceans beyond national jurisdiction) is virtually unregulated. The vast majority of the high seas are not covered by regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) with legal competence to regulate discrete high seas fish stocks. In those few areas where RFMOs have such competence – the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), the South Éast Atlantic Fisheries Organization (SEAFO) and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) – only one, CCAMLR, has taken steps to regulate bottom trawling impacts on deep- sea biodiversity. Most other RFMOs focus on straddling or highly migratory fish stocks such as tuna or tuna-like species. Despite requirements of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (FSA) that apply to highly migratory and straddling fish stocks, the RFMOs remain mostly focused on the conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources – and not on the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Available in: English, English US standard, Spanish.
Deep-Sea Fishing, High Seas
English
1st September 2004
In February 2004, 1,136 scientists from 69 countries released a statement expressing profound concern “that human activities, particularly bottom trawling, are causing unprecedented damage to the deep-sea coral and sponge communities on continental plateaus and slopes, and on seamounts and mid-ocean ridges.” The statement called on governments and the United Nations to establish a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. (For a full text of the statement, see www.mcbi.org).
Available in: English, English US standard, Spanish.
Deep-Sea Fishing, High Seas
English
1st September 2004