Take action to protect deep-sea species and habitats by signing this petition to the UN Secretary General.
The last months of 2011 are a critical period for the conservation of deep-sea fish and other marine life including the Worth Saving poster child the Roundnose Grenadier.
The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), of which the David Suzuki Foundation is a member, invites you to take a ride on a merry-go-roundnose to learn about and take action on the failure of the world's high seas fishing nations to uphold international resolutions meant to protect the deep sea.
Beginning September 15-16, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will conduct the first ever open review of the world's actions to protect deep-sea species and ecosystems that lie beyond national jurisdiction of specific countries from the impacts of bottom fishing.
This review comes five years after the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for urgent action to protect deep-sea species and ecosystems in the high seas from the harmful impacts of bottom fishing.
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The review represents an accounting by high seas bottom fishing countries to the global community of how well they have lived up to their agreed obligations to protect and conserve deep-sea marine habitats and ecosystems.
The DSCC has concluded that countries fishing in international waters, with few exceptions, are failing to live up to the provisions of the UNGA resolutions in question. As a result, deep-sea species and habitats are continuing to be overexploited and damaged.
Canada does not conduct bottom fishing in international waters but we are an influential voting state that can influence the outcomes of this year's review.
We are urging the Canadian delegation to the UNGA meetings to call for:
- The immediate cessation of high seas bottom fishing except where conservation measures consistent with UNGA resolutions 61/105 (pdf) and 64/72, and any subsequent UNGA resolutions, are in force and have been effectively and fully implemented;
- The protection of all vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME) as identified in paragraph 42 of the FAO Guidelines on Deep Sea Fisheries (pdf), including long-lived fish species, spawning areas on the high seas and unique habitats such as seamounts and canyons; and,
- The designation of high seas bottom fishing as illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing when it is conducted in contravention of international instruments, including UNGA resolutions 61/105 and 64/72, regional measures, such as UNGA compliant conservation and management measures adopted by regional fisheries management organizations, or UNGA compliant national rules.
Take action by signing this petition to the UN Secretary General.
For more information visit the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition
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