London, Nov 15: Fishermen who rake giant nets across
the ocean floor to maximise their catch are destroying unique
and unexplored ecological systems, according to the summary
of a UN Draft Environmental Report made public today.
Just over half of the oceans' underwater mountain and
coral ecosystems are located beyond national boundaries,
leaving them unregulated and vulnerable to the damaging
practice known as bottom trawling, the report concludes.
"Some of the corals destroyed are thousands of years
old and will not be replaced. Fish hundreds of years old are
also being decimated as a result of the trawling," Alex
Rogers, one of the study's authors, said at a meeting of the
Zoological Society of London on Monday.
UN delegates are scheduled to discuss a moratorium
on bottom trawling next month in New York.
Trawlers' nets, made of chains, shatter coral and churn
up clouds of sediment that smother sea life. The main damage
is to underwater mountains that are home to thousands of
species of corals and fish, some still unidentified by
scientists, the report said.
"In the case of deep-sea trawling it is, therefore,
essential that the burden of proof shifts to governments and
fisheries when deciding whether it is appropriate to exploit
these irreplaceable ecosystems," said Rogers.
Delegates to the UN General Assembly may informally
consider the trawling moratorium during discussions on the
law of the sea this week. The ban will be considered
officially in December.
Bureau Report
