If the NAFO finds that the impact of bottom trawling method harms vulnerable sea life then it might close the practice once and for all. According to the fisheries management group the assessment of the impact will be done by experienced environmentalists. The environmentalists always argue that bottom trawling or dragging destroys corals, sea mounts, sponges and other marine life and habitat.
The trawling fishing method involves dragging heavy nets with metal gates along the ocean floor. The nets scoop up everything in their path. Susanna Fuller, spokeswoman for the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre, told that the decisions made this week mark a significant step forward in a global shift to more sustainable fishing practices. She said that the real task now is establishing regulations to implement this decision.
NAFO, which manages commercial fishing outside Canada’s 200-mile limit, has pledged to complete the mapping of the fishing grounds and evaluation of marine life by the end of this year. After that it will recommend the selected areas that needed to be closed for fisheries or restricted. The European Commission praised the decision saying that the decision was based on a detailed proposal from the European Union, supplemented by provisions tabled by Canada.
Matthew Gianni, policy adviser to the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, said that it is good to know that NAFO has agreed to implement most of the key provisions of the UN resolution. Beth Hunter, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace Canada, agreed saying that this could set a precedent for protection of deep-sea ecosystems across the whole of the North Atlantic.
