Guest guest Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 ***************************Advertisement*************************** TechCentral http://star-techcentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/2/16/features/7314512 & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Monday February 16, 2004 Trawling threat By MICHAEL CHEANG HIGH seas bottom trawling is the single greatest threat to highly vulnerable deep sea environments and bio-diversity, stated a new report released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), IUCN – the World Conservation Union, and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC). The report, entitled High Seas Bottom fisheries and their Impact on the Biodiversity of Vulnerable Deep-Sea Ecosystems states that high seas bottom trawling – which consists of dragging heavy chains, nets and steel plates across the ocean floor in deep seas areas – destroys up to 95%-98 % of the species habitats in the area that is being trawled. The author of the report, Matthew Gianni, said deep sea ocean floors are homes to an estimated 500,000 to 100 million species, many of which are slow-growing – taking thousands of years to develop, and long lived, making them particularly sensitive to disturbances to their habitat. However, unregulated trawling by fisheries using robust trawling gear that weigh several tonnes each are threatening to wipe out these diverse ecosystems. “Deep sea ecosystems like cold water reefs can be completely destroyed by a single trawl,” Gianni said during a press conference held to announce the report at the 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-7) at Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. “The international community has to take action to set in place an international regime to regulate high seas bottom trawling now. It will be easier to do something now rather than in 10-20 years, when most of the bio-diversity is already gone,” he added. However, WWF high seas legal adviser Charlotte Breide said the main problem with regulating high seas fishing is the lack of international legislation concerning the high seas areas beyond the 200 nautical mile boundaries of each countrysince over 64% of the world’s ocean lies beyond national jurisdiction. “Currently, fishing boats that go beyond the boundaries are free to do as they please, and catch as much fish as they want,” she added. “We are currently in the midst of preparing a model framework to manage and enforce an international legal regime to regulate activities conducted in international high seas.” Nevertheless, WWF, IUCN and NRDC believe that these fragile marine habitats can be protected with little significant economic impact on the global fishing industry, as high seas bottom trawling only makes up 0.2% of the total global fisheries production. “Compared with the global fishing industry, the high seas bottom trawling industry is just a drop in the ocean, dominated by a handful of richer countries,” said Gianni. “Therefore, protecting the deep sea environments from trawling would not have a widespread economic impact or affect fish supplies or prices significantly.” The three organisations called upon participants of COP-7 to request the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a resolution to protect biodiversity hotspots in the high seas from bottom trawling, as well as facilitate the creation of a global representative network of high seas marine protected areas consistent with international law and based on scientific information, and finally, to ensure its effective management and enforcement. <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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