12
August 2008 - International — The fishing
industry seems determined to catch every
last fish in the North Sea. The governments
of the region and the EU have done little
to stop them, but they may soon hit a few
snags: a team from Greenpeace Germany and
Greenpeace Netherlands has sailed into the
German North Sea and begun placing 150 granite
rocks on the seabed. They are hoping that
the rocks, each weighing 2-3 tonnes and
measuring one square cubic metre, will prevent
fishing boats from bottom trawling on the
Sylt Outer Reef. This highly destructive
fishing method involves a net being dragged
across the seabed indiscriminately catching
everything in its path.
Bottom trawling not
only decimates stocks of popular fish, such
as sole and plaice, but it also results
in a large amount of bycatch – which is
thrown back into the sea either dead or
dying.
Greenpeace Netherlands
and Greenpeace Germany are taking direct
action to protect the fragile rocky reef
and sandbank habitats and the many species
that are dependent on them. The German Government
and fishing industry are unwilling to address
the ongoing destruction of vulnerable marine
habitats and the imminent collapse of North
Sea fish stocks. We hope that fishermen
will now steer clear of the Sylt Outer Reef
and respect it as a marine reserve.
Globally, fish stocks
are in free fall with around 90 percent
of predatory species, like tuna, having
been wiped out since the 1950s. If we carry
on with business as usual, very soon there
will be no fish left and no future for the
industry. Only in June, scientists warned
that cod stocks in the North Sea are so
depleted that fishing must be halted altogether.
Incredibly, these warnings
have been ignored. Rather than establishing
a marine reserve to allow the North Sea
to recover, European Ministers continue
to bury their heads in the sand and vote
to increase catch quotas year after year.
Even in areas recognised
for their high ecological importance, such
as the Sylt Outer Reef, the destruction
continues. Not only is fishing allowed,
but also industry extracts vast quantities
of sand and gravel, with devastating consequences
for marine habitats.
On paper these types
of activity shouldn’t be happening. The
Sylt Outer Reef is protected under European
law - designated as a ‘Special Area of Conservation’
under the EU Habitats Directive. But in
reality this protection is worth little
more than the paper it is written on.
We are demanding that
the German government push the European
Commission to put in place new measures
to enforce a ban on fishing in the area
by the beginning of next year at the latest.
We also want the Dutch, Danish and UK governments
to support this.
And we want the German
government to immediately put a stop to
the industrial extraction of sand and gravel
in the area by ensuring no new licences
are issued.
Ultimately, governments need to establish
a global network of fully protected marine
reserves covering 40 percent of the world’s
oceans, including the North Sea.
