October 2, 2007
VANCOUVER -- Bottom trawling, the most harmful form of commercial fishing, must be strictly regulated to reduce its environmental impact, according to a report by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Although Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is now at least looking at the impact of dragging nets across the ocean floor, the David Suzuki Foundation's comprehensive report Dragging Our Assets: Toward an Ecosystem Approach to Bottom Trawling in Canada recommends that much more be done to ensure that trawling does not continue in a manner that degrades marine environments.
The report is being released on October 2 as DFO begins national consultations in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on its planned approach to managing fishing-gear impacts on ocean bottom habitats.
"Canada's approach to addressing habitat impacts from bottom trawling is narrow in scope, does not measure up to international best practices, and does not fulfill the letter or the spirit and intent of international agreements signed by Canada," said Foundation sustainable fisheries analyst Scott Wallace, the report's author. "As Atlantic species such as northern shrimp and Greenland halibut, or turbot, are increasingly targeted, these fisheries have expanded their range to deeper waters and to areas further north."
The report recommends prohibiting expansion of bottom trawling into previously untrawled areas consistent with international resolutions that Canada has signed, an interim moratorium on trawl fishing in oxygen-poor environments, a reduction of trawling in deepwater, and restricting trawl fishing to areas that have been heavily fished for decades.
Bottom trawling, which is normally used for shrimp and groundfish, such as cod and flatfish, involves dragging large nets along the ocean floor, disrupting everything in their path, including corals and other marine habitats. Due to the non-selective nature of the gear, it also captures significant levels of fish that are subsequently discarded as bycatch, some of which are species at risk. Bottom trawling is also very fuel intensive, consuming the greatest amount of fossil fuel per unit of fish landed of any fishing method.
"The area contacted by bottom trawls can be greatly reduced while still maintaining access to the fisheries resources," Dr. Wallace said. "For example, in British Columbia, 90 per cent of the hours spent bottom trawling occurs over less than 30 per cent of the total area fished."
The international community is working to implement stronger protection of the seafloor from fishing impacts, as was seen at last week's meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization in Lisbon. Canada has an opportunity to play a leadership role by implementing the recommendations of this report.
The report can be downloaded at www.davidsuzuki.org.
For more information, contact:
Scott Wallace, Sustainable Fisheries Analyst, (604) 732-4228
Ian Hanington, Communications Specialist, (604) 732-4228, ext. 238
