Study reaffirms Green Party call to end ocean dragging

OTTAWA-- A national study released today entitled How We Fish Matters, conducted by the Ecology Action Centre, Living Oceans Society and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, concludes that bottom trawling, also known as dragging, is the most destructive method of fishing currently being used.

Bottom trawling involves dragging a net the size of a soccer field, held open by heavy metal doors, along the sea floor, catching everything in its path, including valuable coral reefs, and creating a swath of destroyed ocean floor in the process.  Almost half of what a bottom trawler catches are non-target species, which are thrown overboard dead or dying, including crab, squid, shark, sponge and coral.

“The Green Party has repeatedly called for a ban on bottom dragging.  We need leadership from Canada for a global ban on harmful fishing practices,” said Deputy Green Party Leader Adrianne Carr. “Our current laws are not adequate to protect marine habitat from the devastating practice of bottom-trawling, a problem made worse with the other threats to our marine environment, including bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals that flow into the sea from various land practices and spillage from oil and gas exploration. Climate change is yet another threat to our fisheries that we are not taking any action on.”

The current Conservative government has so far refused to support international efforts to ban bottom trawling, an effort that even US President George W. Bush has backed.  “This is practically the only thing that the Harper government has not fallen in line with the Bush government, and we are taking a worse position!” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada. “Once again, we are embarrassed on the world stage.”

The Green Party has called for Canada to lead efforts for a global ban on harmful fishing practices as part of a renewed commitment to fisheries management. The US has banned bottom trawling over 150,000 square miles off the west coast.  Bottom trawling has also been banned in the Mediterranean at depths greater than 3,200 feet.  In 2006, a United Nations report called for an international moratorium on bottom-trawling in order to protect deep sea species, but the resolution failed to get consensus, despite backing from the US and Australia.

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Contact:
Michael Bernard
Communications Officer
Green Party of Canada
Office : 613 562 4916 ext. 244
Cell : 613 614 4916
Fax : 613 482 4632