09.06.2004 07:07
Environmentalists call for an end to bottom trawling

Deutsche Presse-Agentur A coalition of environmental groups on Monday called for U.N. action to stop the practice of bottom trawl fishing, which they said could wipe out unknown marine species that can offer important benefits to humankind.
The groups said bottom trawlers in international waters are increasingly targeting commercially valuable fish found at underwater mountains, or seamounts; cold water corals; and vulnerable deep-sea habitats.

They said scientists believe that those still-unexplored habitats are rich in biodiversity that could be the home of hundreds, if not thousands, of undiscovered marine species.

The environmental groups included the World Conservation Union, Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, Oceana, the Marine Conservation Biology Institute and Conservation International, known as the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. They made the request at the opening day of a weeklong conference on deep-sea conservation at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Countries practising bottom trawl fishing include Spain, Russia, Portugal, Norway, Estonia, Denmark, Japan, Lithuania, Iceland, New Zealand and Latvia, which together take 95 per cent of fish in bottom trawl fishing.

European Union countries, including the Baltic republics, took about 60 per cent of the total catch.

"It's not right that a single method of fishing being practised by a handful of nations could cause the extinction of species unknown to science and destroy any potential for sustainable fisheries," said Arlo Hemphill of Conservation International.

"That is why it is incumbent on the United Nations to declare an immediate suspension of bottom trawling on the high seas," he said.

A study by the coalition said that deep-sea marine life, though not fully explored, is considered an important source of medicine. It said some deep-sea corals contain antibiotics and pain-killing compounds and have a high concentration of prostaglandins, which are used to treat asthma and heart disease.


Copyright 2004 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH