Source: Stuff
Author: Andrea Vance
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has joined calls to ban bottom trawling on seamounts.
Clark acknowledged that the ocean is under mounting pressure from the impacts of climate change and bottom trawling, whilst facing a new emerging threat, deep-sea mining.
“It is a concern to me that New Zealand still bottom trawls on sea mounts in the South Pacific high seas areas, and the Tasman Sea… there’s incredible damage being done to our seamounts from this kind of activity,” Clark said. Clark added that she was also concerned about the harm that would be caused by deep-sea mining if it were to go ahead.
Clark was speaking on a panel organised by The Helen Clark Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts on The High Seas Treaty and a New Era of Ocean Conservation together with H.E. Surangel S. Whipps Jr, President of the Republic of Palau and Angelique Pouponneau, Environmental Lawyer.
This week marks New Zealand’s SeaWeek, a national week to promote marine conservation. On Tuesday, street artist Cinzah and Wellington artist Sheyne Tuffery completed a new mural featuring an orange Roughy, on Wellington’s Egmont Street commissioned by the DSCC and WWF-New Zealand, the third in a series which were also painted in Auckland and Dunedin.
Livia Esterhazy, WWF New Zealand Chief Executive visited the mural with National MP Scott Simpson. Green Party MP, and select committee chair Eugenie Sage watched the painting on Monday.
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