Good News! - South Pacific nations agree to stop bottom trawling

Following the news about the joint fight to stop illegal fishing activities in the Asia Pacific region, there is more good news for nature today as 20 nations in the South Pacific agree to put an end to the disasterous practice of bottom trawling.

Read what the BBC & ABC have to report below:

A quarter of the world's oceans will be protected from fishing boats which drag heavy nets across the sea floor, South Pacific nations have agreed.

The landmark deal will restrict bottom-trawling, which experts say destroys coral reefs and stirs up clouds of sediment that suffocate marine life.

Observers and monitoring systems will ensure vessels remain five nautical miles from marine ecosystems at risk.

The South Pacific contains the last pristine deep-sea marine environment. It extends from the Equator to the Antarctic and from Australia to the western coast of South America.

The high seas encompass all areas not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a country.

'Precautionary measures'

The agreement reached in the coastal town of Renaca in Chile will come into force on 30 September.

It will close to bottom-trawling areas where vulnerable marine ecosystems are known or are likely to exist, unless a prior assessment is undertaken and highly precautionary protective measures are implemented.

Bottom-trawling: How it works

The delegation from New Zealand, whose fishermen are responsible for 90% of bottom-trawling in the South Pacific high seas, said the restrictions would "severely constrain" its fishing vessels.

"Because of the cost implications of the necessary research and assessment and observer requirements, it may even have the effect of putting an end to bottom-trawling," it said.

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, an alliance of leading environmental and conservation groups, welcomed the agreement.

"This is a major step forward in the protection of biodiversity on the high seas," Matthew Gianni, a spokesman for the group, said.

More at the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6627425.stm

and the ABC: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915287.htm

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-05-07