Ottawa stands firm against bottom trawling ban
MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
Canada opposes UN efforts to place a temporary moratorium on bottom trawling on the high seas beyond the 200-mile economic exclusion zones that countries maintain along their seacoasts, arguing that the action would be impractical, according to statements by Canadian negotiators and Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn.
The UN is holding closed-door negotiations that wrap up today on a resolution to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems. A number of Pacific Island nations, supported by Australia, New Zealand, and the United States have been pushing for it to include a temporary ban on bottom trawling on the high seas while countries negotiate long-term management plans for these fisheries.
Canada objects to the proposal, angering environmentalists, but the position is being applauded by domestic fishing companies that fear a successful stand by the UN against bottom trawling in the open ocean will increase the pressure for similar prohibitions along Canada's Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Although Canada is not revealing its day-to-day negotiating position at the UN, Mr. Hearn says in statements posted on the department's website on the bottom fishing ban that Canada is "among the majority of responsible fishing nations in saying that such an approach is impractical and unenforceable under current international law." A spokesperson for the minister said he was unavailable for further comment.
"Minister Hearn has got it exactly right, that it's pointless to invent a bunch of rules in unregulated areas that are utterly unenforceable," said Russ Carrigan, spokesman for Fishery Products International, a large seafood company based in St. John's.
Bottom trawling is considered one of the world's most destructive fishing practices, the deep-sea version of clear-cutting on land because it involves dragging weighted nets along the sea floor, scooping up marine life and destroying the habitat in its path. Sea bottoms are home to corals and sponges that provide vital habitat for juvenile fish, and many scientists say the trawling has to be curbed to maintain the long-term health of ocean fisheries.
The UN said in a report issued earlier this year that detrimental effects of bottom trawling have been noted around the world, including off the coast of Nova Scotia.
This evidence is disputed by some in the Canadian industry, who contend that bottom fishing is harmless.
Last week, John Risley, the founder of Clearwater Seafoods, another major domestic company, was quoted by Canadian Press as saying "there is zero scientific evidence, not one shred of scientific evidence, that these fisheries do any damage to the bottom environment whatsoever."
Canadian companies, such as FPI and Clearwater, carry out bottom trawling within Canada's 200-mile zone, although they don't outside of this limit.
Outside the limit, countries such as Spain, Russia and Japan are big users of the controversial fishing gear. The majority of the world catch collected through bottom trawling in international waters is from the Grand Banks and Flemish Cap just outside Canada's zone.
Canada's position is "not only disappointing, but internationally embarrassing," says Jennifer Lash, executive director of the Living Oceans Society, an environmental group based in Sointula, B.C. " Canada failed to rise to this opportunity to protect the high seas."
She said the government's position is perplexing because the prime beneficiaries of continued bottom trawling on the high seas are foreign fleets, such as those from Spain, that Ottawa has often targeted in the past for its fishing practices.
But Mr. Carrigan said the federal position helps the industry because environmentalists would put pressure on the government to end bottom trawling in Canadian waters if the UN voted to condemn it.
"I think the pretense that any regime initiated for outside 200 miles would not immediately lead to pressure within our own economic zone is naive in the extreme," he said.
The UN is scheduled to deal with the fishing resolution early next month.
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