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Fish protesters take message to commuters
By Brian Flinn
DARTMOUTH - Commuters crossing the Macdonald bridge from Dartmouth yesterday were greeted by about 20 people holding signs that said The Netherlands Does, and Sweden Does.
Last week, the same group was on Quinpool Road, with the slogans More Fish, and More Responsibility on display to inbound traffic.
The cryptic protest is taking place simultaneously in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Newfoundland. It will reveal itself later this week as a plea to stop high-seas bottom trawling.
"It's a good way just to let people know," said Mark Butler, the Ecology Action Centre's marine issues co-ordinator. "If you stand there for two hours, you might reach 10,000 people, and that's not bad."
The United Nations is scheduled to vote in November on a resolution to impose a moratorium on high-seas dragging. Butler said federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn is meeting with staff in the next week or so to discuss Canada's position.
Until now, Canada has opposed the moratorium. But Hearn has indicated he's sympathetic. In May, he told The Canadian Press, "It does damage to the stocks, and it does damage to the habitat."
Expressed interest
The United States, Australia, Brazil and seven European Countries have expressed interest in the moratorium.
Butler said the protest is aimed at encouraging Hearn to stand up to pressure from industry and bureaucrats who don't want to join the moratorium.
Bottom trawling is controversial because of the damage it does to habitat. Boats drag weighted gear across the bottom of the ocean, scooping up the fish they're looking for and anything else that's in the way.
The moratorium under consideration by the UN would not apply inside Canadian waters. It would affect areas beyond the jurisdiction of international fishery organizations - about 70 per cent of the world's oceans.
Butler said fish caught on the high seas are relatively few, but the damage caused in those often fragile areas is particularly severe.
"These ecosystems can be easily damaged or destroyed, he said.
"Fishing them hard is just stupid."
Canadians do little high-seas dragging. But industry here might feel threatened by any government action that acknowledges damage caused by bottom trawling. While the EAC accepts dragging for species like scallops that live on a cobble bottom, they ultimately hope to stop other forms of bottom trawling within the 200-mile limit.
bflinn@hfxnews.ca
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Source:
The Daily News
August 22, 2006
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