U.N. drive for ban on ocean bottom trawling fails - Reuters

[Eugene]

U.N. drive for ban on ocean bottom trawling fails
23 Nov 2006 19:09:02 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - U.N. negotiators failed to agree
on Thursday on a measure banning a fishing practice known as high-seas
bottom trawling that environmentalists say chews up the ocean floor
and depletes fish stocks.

Days of negotiations in a General Assembly committee on the world body's
annual resolution on ocean fisheries ended in the early morning hours
of Thursday with no deal on a bottom trawling ban in the face of strong
opposition from a handful of fishing nations led by Iceland, conservation
groups said.

The resolution is due to be taken up by the 192-nation General Assembly
on Dec. 7, minus strong language regulating bottom trawling.

-snip-

General Assembly resolutions, while not legally binding, carry great
weight with governments as they reflect the will of the international
community.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23281517.htm