The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) has presented a detailed report on the actions taken by high seas fishing nations to protect deep-sea ecosystems from the destructive impact of bottom fishing on the world''s high seas at a meeting of UNICPOLOS, the United Nation''s General Assembly''s oceans working group.
The DSCC report highlights the failure of most high seas fishing States and regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) to effectively implement the measures agreed in a 2006 UN General Assembly resolution by the deadline of 31 December 2008. Implementation has been partial at best in some areas such as the North Atlantic, Southern Ocean and South Pacific and non-existent in other areas such as the Indian Ocean.
In 2004 UNICPOLOS first recommended that the General Assembly call for urgent action to protect deep-sea ecosystems on the high seas from the adverse impacts of bottom fishing. The Resolution adopted by the General Assembly in December 2006 called for all States and RFMOs to take a series of measures to protect vulnerable deep sea ecosystems such as seamounts and cold-water corals, through conducting environmental impact assessments, closing areas of the high seas to bottom fishing where vulnerable marine ecosystems are likely to occur, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks.
The resolution further established a deadline of 31 December 2008 by which high seas fishing nations and RFMOs committed to either implement the UN resolution or else prohibit bottom fishing on the high seas.
While some States and RFMOs have closed some areas to bottom fishing, most of these closures are only temporary and contain loopholes which allow for 'scientific' or 'exploratory' fishing. Most of the high seas remain open to continued bottom fishing, in particular bottom trawling, on seamounts and in other areas where cold-water corals, sponges and similar habitat forming deep-water species are likely to occur. Furthermore, the DSCC report concludes that most bottom fisheries on the high seas continue to deplete slow growing, long lived, deep-sea species of fish and sharks, some of which are recognised as endangered as a result of fishing.
The UN General Assembly has scheduled a review in September of this year of the effectiveness of the actions taken by States and RFMOs and this issue will be debated at the UN meeting this week
