At its 30th Annual Meeting held in Vigo, Spain this past week NAFO has addressed many issues important to long-term conservation of the marine environment, but failed to agree to protect areas of the deep-sea which scientists had identified as vulnerable to the impact of bottom fishing. According to the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) in 2006 it has declared that regional fisheries management organizations such as NAFO to establish regulations by 31 December 2008 to prevent damage to corals, sponges, seamounts and other vulnerable deep-sea marine habitats from bottom fishing on the high seas.
In that declaration the UN GA called for closures of all areas to bottom fishing where vulnerable marine ecosystems are “known or likely” to occur unless regulations are in place prevent damage. But unfortunately NAFO failed to close six areas of the deep-sea identified by scientists as containing high concentrations of corals and other vulnerable species. NAFO even not agree to any regulations to prevent damage from continued bottom trawling in these areas, despite the UN GA mandate.
It has said that NAFO did adopt an ‘encounter’ protocol the requires fishing vessels to move 2 nautical miles from an areas where when they accidentally catch corals and sponges, but only if they catch more than 100 kilograms of coral or 1000 kilograms of sponges. Susanna Fuller of the Halifax based Ecology Action Centre, explained that these long lived, deep seas species deserve far greater protection.
She also said that NAFO nations have yet to deliver on the commitments they made at the UN in 2006, and agreed to at an Extraordinary Meeting of NAFO earlier this year. Jennifer Ford, also of the Ecology Action Centre, told that NAFO scientists made some good progress this past year in mapping areas where there are corals and sponges and seamounts, using up to date scientific information.
