Welcome to the TBT Coalition’s August newsletter.
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Coalition member Fauna and Flora International launched the next stage of the Defining Destructive Fishing project, which aims to support progress in addressing 'destructive fishing'. Meanwhile, over 200 scientists in Europe signed an open declaration calling on the EU Commission to ban bottom trawling in MPAs.
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We’ll continue to engage with, amplify and support these campaigns and your work throughout September. Please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected] if the coalition can support your work to #TransformTrawling. You can follow our Twitter for regular updates.
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A commercial shrimp trawler is pursued by three Sea Lions near San Felipe, Mexico. © Greenpeace / Alex Hofford
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CAMPAIGN UPDATES
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Banning bottom trawling in EU marine protected areas
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Over 200 scientists have come together to sign an open declaration calling on the European Commission to ban bottom trawling in MPAs. Scientists that support the declaration are invited to add their signatures by completing the online form.
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Defining Destructive Fishing Project workshop
Coalition member Fauna and Flora International (FFI) is hosting a workshop to discuss the progress and next steps for the “Defining Destructive Fishing” project.
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The project originates from reviewing SDG target 14.4, where there has been significant global progress in addressing “overfishing” and “illegal fishing”, with far less focus on the inherent risks to fisheries and biodiversity of “destructive fishing".
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Developing consensus around a definition of destructive fishing is an important step toward developing practical, evidence-based fisheries policies that address the destructive impacts of industrial bottom trawling.
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The workshop will be held virtually on the 20th of October 2022. If you are interested in attending please register via this link.
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4th World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress, Europe
Coalition representatives are in Malta this week attending 4WSFC Europe to meet with fishers and understand their visions for the future of low-impact fishing in Europe.
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Under the theme ‘Imagine the (Un)Imaginable’, the congress provides a platform for an open and forward-looking discussion about the options and opportunities for small-scale fisheries in Europe.
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The lessons we learn from the congress will help us to design campaigns and policy solutions that support small-scale fishers’ priorities for European fisheries.
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Supporting fishers to attend the conference
Through Blue Ventures, the coalition is supporting Alasdair ‘Bally’ Philp and Haydn Mackenzie from the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF) to attend the congress and amplify the Our Seas alliance’s campaign for a 3 nautical mile seaward limit on bottom trawling and dredging in Scotland.
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Bally is a full-time fisherman working from the Isle of Skye in Scotland and the National Coordinator of the SCFF. Bally fishes for Nephrops (aka langoustine or scampi) using creels, a form of static gear, but he has previously worked on prawn trawlers and scallop dredgers. Bally is a staunch advocate for spatially managing static and mobile gears and believes preferential access for low-impact fisheries is key to building truly sustainable inshore fisheries.
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Haydn works with Bally on his boat out of the Isle of Skye and hopes to one day set up his own fishing business. Haydn recently became a father, and as such he is passionate about ensuring there are fishing opportunities left for future generations.
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Bally and Haydn catch Nephrops using low-impact static gear on the west coast of Scotland.
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35th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries
Last week coalition representatives attended the 35th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries meeting in Rome to meet with collaborators, build relationships with decision-makers, and track the development of key policies that are relevant to our campaign.
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Successful outcomes of the meeting included the creation of a sub-committee on fisheries management, the adoption of transhipment guidelines, and support for a regular biannual summit dedicated to small-scale and artisanal fisheries.
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BOTTOM TRAWLING NEWS
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Asia and Asia-Pacific
Fishers on the Balochistan coast watch in despair as illegal trawling depletes the fish stock and destroys their livelihoods
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The Green Party has demanded an end to commercial trawling on underwater mountains to signal the Government “is serious about healthy fisheries and thriving oceans.”
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Global Press Journla, Sri Lanka
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Sri Lankan fishers say trespassing Indian boats have destroyed their fishing equipment and nearly driven them out of business. But mass protests and a presidential resignation have diverted the government's attention.
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Crewman on the New Zealand bottom trawler, Waipori, dump a large piece of Paragorgia coral dredged from the deep sea in their net. © Greenpeace / Malcolm Pullman
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Americas
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Research Professional News, US
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Agency says data from trawling are vital after environmentalists accuse it of “trashing seabeds”
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A lawsuit challenging how North Carolina manages coastal fisheries can go to court, the state Court of Appeals ruled earlier this week. The lawsuit alleges the state has “breached its obligation under the public trust doctrine” to prevent overfishing of coastal fish stocks and prevent habitat destruction from inland trawling.
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Environmentalist denounces that the finding is the result of trawl fishing near two important wildlife reserves.
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One of the world's first marine protected areas dating back to 1984, the Ocullina Coral Reef was about to be opened to rock shrimp trawling. But National Marine Fisheries Service has rejected that option over potential damage to the reef ecosystem.
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Bycatch from a shrimp trawler fishing in the Gulf of California is pushed back into the sea, much of it dead or dying. © Sarah Foster / Project Seahorse
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Europe
Greenpeace UK has placed 18 limestone boulders on the seabed in the South West Deeps (East) Marine Protected Area to block destructive industrial fishing.
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Dredging is considered the most destructive form of fishing. Why is it so common?
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Seas At Risk and Oceana have claimed research shows the practice of bottom trawling 'can be largely replaced by far less aggressive fishing gears'
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Industrial trawling for halibut in the Davis Strait off western Greenland is currently done in a certified sustainable manner, but new studies suggest it may be doing long-term harm.
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An alliance of more than a hundred organisations is supporting a new 'save our seas' campaign to force the government to halt the dramatic decline of cod described as a "national disgrace".
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By allowing destructive dredging and bottom-trawling, Ministers are undermining wider efforts to protect the oceans
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Researchers from the University of St Andrews have collaborated with Scottish Government scientists to develop a new predictive approach that will help assess how vulnerable the U.K.'s seabed carbon stores are to the pressures of bottom trawling by fishing boats.
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Greenpeace is placing inert boulders into the South West Deeps MPA. © Suzanne Plunkett / Greenpeace
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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
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Are there bottom trawling news or events you would like us to amplify via this newsletter or our social media channels? Please contact [email protected].
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