Marine conservation experts call on the European Council of Fisheries Ministers to prohibit fishing for endangered deep-sea species. The Council will meet on 14-15 November to decide on Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas for deep-sea fishing in the North-East Atlantic*.
Negotiations are currently underway at the UN in NYC to decide the fisheries resolutions which will go before the General Assembly next month. On November 9th & 10th the highly destructive practice of bottom fishing in the deep ocean will be under scrutiny. Following a review earlier this year to consider the implementation of previous resolutions seeking to control the negative impact, the DSCC is calling for bottom fishing on seamounts to be stopped to preserve fragile habitats. A resolution proposed by South Africa supports this and also calls for a further review in 2020. This and other proposals will be discussed over the coming two days.
Continue reading Ten Years On It’s Time To Protect The Seamounts
Varadero, Cuba—The 38th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) concluded today in Varadero, Cuba. This year, expectations were high that NAFO Contracting Parties would take further measures to protect elements of the marine ecosystem and vulnerable sharks and skates, and environmentalists at the Ecology Action Centre, who attended as the only civil society observers, are pleased to see that some of these measures will be moving forward.
This blog was inspired by Dr. Les Watling’s discussion immediately following the recent meeting of the UN General Assembly.
Continue reading Vulnerable and in need of protection, seamounts are oases of the deep sea
Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts
A patchwork of international bodies and treaties manage ocean resources and human activity in areas beyond any state’s national jurisdiction. However, these governance bodies vary greatly in terms of their mandate, which determines their geographic scope, their objective, the legally binding nature of decisions they adopt, and whether they regulate one or several activities. Their jurisdictions often overlap, but virtually no mechanisms exist to coordinate across geographic areas and sectors. Too often, this piecemeal governance approach leads to the degradation of the environment and its resources, and makes deploying management and conservation tools such as environmental impact assessments and marine protected areas (MPAs), including marine reserves, challenging both legally and logistically.
Source: Virgin Unite
Author: Claire Nouvian
Hundreds of thousands of citizens, who added their voices to a hard-fought campaign to end one of the most absurd and abominable of all fishing practices, can finally celebrate a major peoples’ victory: the European Parliament, Council and Commission have agreed to a ban on deep-sea bottom trawling.
Continue reading Defending the deep: the new EU deep-sea bottom trawling ban
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) wrapped up a two-day workshop today in New York to review the implementation of a set of landmark resolutions adopted by the General Assembly over the past ten year calling for action by States to prevent damage to deep-sea ecosystems from destructive fishing practices.
Source: Marine Conservation Institute
Author: Les Watling
The concept of a vulnerable marine ecosystem, commonly referred to by its acronym VME, in high seas marine conservation management is about a decade old. United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/105 called “upon States to take action immediately, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, and consistent with the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches, to sustainably manage fish stocks and protect vulnerable marine ecosystems [VMEs], including seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold water corals, from destructive fishing practices, recognizing the immense importance and value of deep-sea ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain.”
A LOT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED IN THE LAST 10 YEARS BUT WE CANNOT GIVE UP UNTIL THE JOB IS DONE.
A new report out today, reviewing ten years of international commitment to conserve biodiversity in the deep sea, finds significant improvements in our ability to prevent damage from destructive fishing practices over the last decade, but concludes that implementation of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) landmark Resolutions falls short and leaves vast parts of the ocean unprotected from destruction by deep-sea bottom trawling.
Source: New Scientist
Author: Fred Pearce
They aren’t the most famous ecosystems. Few people hit the streets to protect the Louisville ridge, the Josephine seamount or the Flemish Cap – the ecological marvels found on the floor of the deep ocean.
Continue reading Deep-sea ecosystems still under threat despite UN protection
