Renewed push for bottom-trawling ban
In an open letter to the Govt, former conservation minister Eugenie Sage pushes for a ban on bottomtrawling across four million square kilometres of ocean. By
The Green Party has begun a renewed push to ban bottom trawling across New Zealand’s four million square kilometres of ocean jurisdiction.
In an open letter released to the Sunday Star-Times, former Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage urges Environment Minister David Parker to ban the practice, in which heavy nets are dragged along the ocean floor to catch many fish at once, across New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone.
‘‘Over decades, successive governments here in Aotearoa New Zealand have enabled our oceans to be exploited for shortterm economic gain,’’ Sage wrote.
‘‘Bottom trawling... destroys centuries-old communities of deep-sea corals, sea sponges and other marine life. They will take centuries to recover; if they do at all. It is an indiscriminate fishing method. Urgently ending bottom trawling would signal that Government is serious about healthy fisheries and thriving oceans.
‘‘The United Nations has called for action to protect seamounts from destructive fishing practices. Chile has banned bottom trawling on 98 per cent of the seamounts in its jurisdiction. I ask that you prioritise a ban on destructive bottom trawling so that Aotearoa New Zealand plays its part in sustaining our oceans.’’
The open letter was accompanied by a parliamentary petition pushing for a ban.
The Green Party is in a ‘‘cooperation agreement’’ with the Labour Government, but has far less direct input into decisionmaking than it did last term, meaning the party is using public pressure campaigns more and more.
The deep-sea trawling petition is similar to a campaign the party ran recently, attempting to speed up the ban on gay conversion therapy, which drew more than 100,000 signatures.
Political parties use petitions both to highlight public pressure and to amass contact details for swathes of potential supporters and donors.
Sage said that New Zealand was seriously behind other nations in marine protection.
‘‘We are lagging because we’ve only got about 52 per cent of our seamounts protected,’’ Sage said.
Seamounts – underwater mountains – are biodiversity hotspots and huge targets for bottom-trawling, as they are closer to the surface and feature many fish.
‘‘When they are down there on the seabed they destroy virtually everything in their path,’’ Sage said. ‘‘Some areas of the seabed have been trawled every year for the past 30-odd years.’’
A petition from Greenpeace sporting 50,000 signatures was delivered to Parliament and Parker late last year.
Parker said at the time the Government had not made a decision on the matter.
‘‘We didn’t go to the election with a promise to ban bottom trawling, obviously there are some legitimate concerns about the adverse environmental effects of bottom trawling, there are new technologies that are coming and I’m quite happy to look at the issue carefully,’’ he told RNZ.
‘‘Urgently ending bottom trawling would signal that Government is serious about healthy fisheries and thriving oceans.’’ Eugenie Sage