UN Fails In Attempt To Limit Bottom Trawling - BBC

[hatrack]

United Nations negotiations on fisheries have ended without a global ban on trawling methods which destroy coral reefs and fish nurseries. Conservation groups and some governments had argued for a ban on bottom-trawling, which drags heavy nets and crushing rollers on the sea floor.

Negotiators could only agree on a limited set of precautionary measures. Last month, leading scientists warned there would be no sea fish left in 50 years if current practices continued. Negotiations at the UN in New York aimed to secure an agreement to go before the General Assembly next month.

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Eleven nations have bottom-trawling fleets, with Spain's being the biggest. Studies have indicated that none would be commercially viable without government subsidies. In 2004, a report compiled for the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and other environmental groups concluded that bottom-trawling was "...highly destructive to the biodiversity associated with seamounts and deep-sea coral ecosystems and... likely to pose significant risks to this biodiversity, including the risk of species extinction."

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All this scientific evidence could not convince enough UN delegates that a moratorium was needed. The eventual deal which goes forward to the General Assembly mandates governments to adopt unilateral "precautionary measures" to ensure their bottom-trawlers do not cause significant damage to marine ecosystems.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6181396.stm

[JohnWxy]

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