Canada breaks spirit and letter of internationl fishing rule

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 10:15:38 -0300 (ADT)
From: Mark Butler <ar427@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <sust-mar-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects





For Immediate Release
12 October, 2000
Canada Breaks Spirit and Letter of International Fishing Rule

DFO managers are using a quota allocated to Canada by the International
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the regulatory
body for tunas and swordfish, for a purpose other than it was intended.
ICCAT allocated Canada a dead discard quota for the unintended bycatch of
undersized fish, but the fleet is now using it to discard legal sized
fish.  

Says Mark Butler "It's bad enough to throw away small swordfish, but to
throw away large swordfish, just so the fleet can fish another species is
so contrary to swordfish conservation, that the decision is almost
incomprehensible."

Conservationists have long criticized the swordfish longline fishery for
the high level of discarding of undersized swordfish, bluefin tuna,
several species of shark, and turtles (most of which are released alive
although their mortality rate is not known).  Yet in recent weeks the
fishery has gone from bad to worse.  With permission from DFO, the fleet
is discarding legal size swordfish back into the ocean dead, fish weighing
300 and 400 pounds.  

How did this situation arise? In September the swordfish longline fleet
caught all of its swordfish quota.  In October the fleet wanted to go
fishing for other tunas.  However, it's not possible, using surface
longline gear, to fish tunas without catching swordfish, so the industry
asked DFO to allow them to add the dead swordfish they caught--small or
big--to the dead discard quota.  DFO managers said yes.

DFO officials have told the Ecology Action Centre that it does not matter
what happens to the fish--they could be placed in a landfill--as long as
the fleet remains within the quota.  "That comment is disturbing enough,S
says Lara Gibson, volunteer biologist at EAC, Rbut ICCAT has said
swordfish quotas in the North Atlantic are still too high, so even using
their reasoning this action shows a blatant disregard for conservation
measures."  

"If the fleet can't catch tuna without jeopardizing swordfish, then they
shouldnUt be fishing," maintains Mark Butler.  There are other methods of
fishing for albacore and bigeye tuna that do not catch swordfish and other
species, and these should be promoted by DFO.

There are also fewer fishery observers on swordfish longline boats this
year contrary to a strong recommendation by DFOUs own scientists that the
level of coverage be maintained or increased.  The level of observer
coverage has dropped from 10% in previous years (1998 &1999) to 5% this
year.  

The Ecology Action Centre sent a letter to DFO on Thursday September 28th
asking that this fall tuna fishery be shut down immediately.
						-30-
For more information contact Mark Butler and Lara Gibson at 429-2202


-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes
mailing list (sust-mar).  http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Volunteer moderator: Paul Falvo  mailto:sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca

To submit a message to sust-mar, please send it to:
mailto:sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca

PLEASE SEND MESSAGES TO SUST-MAR IN PLAIN TEXT ONLY
MESSAGES CONTAINING HTML (MIME) CANNOT BE POSTED

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects