PM Harper should follow President Bush’s lead and support ocean habitat protection

This proposal would temporarily prohibit deep-sea bottom trawling in unmanaged areas of the high seas until effective management arrangements had been put in place. Canada has thus far opposed such a measure.

About 64 per cent of the world’s oceans are in international waters, beyond the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of coastal states, and bottom trawling is unmanaged in about three-quarters of this area. The practice of bottom trawling, where huge nets outfitted with steel plates and heavy rollers are dragged across the ocean bottom, causes significant harm to sensitive species, habitats, and ecosystems.

“As it stands now, most of the high seas are like the old ‘wild west’ where there is little coherent law, and anything goes regardless of the impacts to fish stocks and sensitive habitats. It is really puzzling why Canada has sided with the European Union and other nations with poor fishing records, in opposing this measure,” said Dr. Simon Cripps, Director, Global Marine Program, WWF International. “After all, the proposal would simply pause fishing in unregulated areas of the ocean until proper management measures can be put in place. Canada can be reassured that the proposal only involves high seas areas and only proposes to temporarily suspend bottom trawling in those areas where management regimes are missing or inadequate.”

“Canada has committed to protecting sensitive areas in our own waters and to improving international fisheries,” said Dr. Robert Rangeley, Director, Atlantic Marine Program, WWF-Canada. “If we’re serious about doing so, why wouldn’t we move to end unregulated and uncontrolled trawling on the high seas especially when such a measure will have no impact on fisheries in our own waters?”

WWF has been working to ensure all high seas fisheries are well managed and sustainable. WWF therefore calls for an interim moratorium on bottom trawling in all areas not covered by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs – the main mechanism developed by nations to regulate fishing on the high seas) with the competency to regulate bottom trawling. This prohibition should only be lifted in areas where and when an adequate management structure is in place, and effective conservation measures, consistent with the precautionary principle, have been adopted.

In those high seas areas that are managed by RFMOs, such as NAFO, WWF has been calling for reforms so that their mandate includes an ecosystem-based management approach, such as protecting habitat, rebuilding fish stocks and minimizing bycatch.

“Sensitive ocean habitat needs to be protected either by removing threats such as bottom trawling or by implementing other effective protection measures. Since three quarters of the high seas have no management regime in place to control trawling, since many areas have already been decimated and since we have yet to learn how to define and locate sensitive habitats in the deep sea and open ocean, the international community must act now in a precautionary manner to protect what is left before it is too late. Canada should be leading this initiative by supporting the UN resolution, not trying to sink it,” concluded Rangeley.