25/02/2005 The General
Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean
(GFCM) banned bottom trawling at depths
beyond 1000m.
The ban, the first of its kind in the world,
follows the work of WWF and IUCN-The World
Conservation Union on the diversity, importance
and need for protection of the Mediterranean
deep-sea ecosystems, which provided evidence
for the legislation.
With the over-exploitation of shallow fisheries,
the trend worldwide is to fish deeper and
deeper. Sea beds below 1000m have not yet
been explored by Mediterranean fleets and
the ban is a precautionary one to protect
the still-intact and poorly understood deep
sea ecosystems. Over half the area of the
Mediterranean is now protected from the
harmful impacts of bottom trawling.
GFCMs decision to exclude trawling beyond
1000 metres has moved the Mediterranean
considerably towards sustainable fisheries,
said Sergi Tudela, Fisheries Officer at
WWF Mediterranean and head of the WWF delegation
at the GFCM session.
Over a quarter of Mediterranean marine
fauna are endemic and the percentage of
endemism is higher in deep waters. Fragile
areas of ecological significance are found
in the deep waters of the Mediterranean,
and new ecosystems have been recently discovered
in the area.
Vulnerable deep sea ecosystems include
seamounts or submerged mountains, submarine
canyons and cold-water corals. Deep water
systems are also highly vulnerable to commercial
exploitation due to the low turnover rates
of the species adapted to these environments.
Furthermore, protecting deep sea habitats
benefits fisheries. The nursery area for
deep water shrimps are at below 1000m, and
excluding this area from trawling means
protecting juvenile shrimps and thus the
shrimp fisheries.
The GFCM also banned the use of driftnets
in the Mediterranean, thus making all 2.5
million sq. km. of the sea driftnet free.
WWF asks GFCM to continue paving the way
for better fisheries management in the Mediterranean,
and member nations to follow up with immediate
compliance, added Sergi Tudela.
Notes:
Both the ban on bottom trawling beyond
1000m and on driftnet fishing are legally
binding for all countries bordering the
Mediterranean, and were adopted at the 29th
session of the GFCM held in Rome from 21-25
February. Unless there are objections from
member countries, both legal mechanisms
come into effect 4 months from now.
According to WWF, the use of driftnets
in the Mediterranean continues to kill thousands
of dolphins - and other vulnerable species
every year, despite the European Union's
ban on driftnet fishing from 1 January 2002,
and the UN moratorium on large scale driftnets
from 1992. Driftnets run for kilometres,
with each net measuring anywhere between
7 and 14 kilometres long.
