Environmentalists have expressed dismay at the continuation of New Zealand bottom trawling

Quito, 21 Feb. The Coastal Conservation Coalition (DSCC) lamented the failure of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (Sprfmo) Commission to curb bottom trawling at its recent meeting in Ecuador.

In a statement, the DSCC believes that pressure from the New Zealand government, the intergovernmental body responsible for regulating marine fisheries in the South Pacific Ocean, has opened the door to the extinction of 30% of marine life. of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs).

The International Federation has asserted that this decision is against the United Nations and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

New Zealand, the only state in the South Pacific region to maintain bottom trawling in coastal waters, won a move to allow such bottom trawling to continue offshore, with strong support from Australia and the Cook Islands.

During the negotiations, the European Union (EU), the United States and Chile expressed their desire for higher precautionary limits, but ultimately accepted New Zealand’s proposal to ensure the adoption of the bottom fisheries protection measure.

“New Zealand’s action undermines United Nations General Assembly resolutions and violates its own convention and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” DSCC legal adviser Duncan Carey said.

“This is contrary to the UN General Assembly Bottom Line Fisheries Resolutions, FAO Guidelines, Sprfmo Convention, UNCLOS and Fish Stocks Agreement. “Worse still, it directly contradicts the pledges to protect biodiversity that states have signed here,” he added.

For her part, Bronwen Golder, head of the DSCC’s global seamount campaign, praised the interventions by the EU, US and Chile as “an important signal to New Zealand, which is counting on bottom drag in days of high seas”.

Next week, the fifth session of negotiations for a new global agreement on the “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction” will be held in New York.

Many high seas fishing countries have argued that the new agreement should not “diminish” the authority of regional fisheries management organizations such as Sprfmo to manage high seas fisheries.

However, the DSCC noted that the deep-sea fisheries regulation adopted by Sprfmo this week clearly demonstrates the opposite need.

The Sprfmo meeting, held in Manta (Ecuador) between February 13 and 17, brought together officials, experts and diplomatic personnel from Australia, Chile, China, Cuba, Cook Islands, Korea, Denmark, Faroe Islands, and the United States. New Zealand, United Kingdom, Panama, Peru, Russia, Taiwan, Vanuatu and the European Union. EFE

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