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For Immediate Release: September 26, 2002
Coral Rubble:
Visible Proof of Dragger Destruction
The recent discovery by Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientists of a
small piece of living stony coral (Lophelia pertusa) surrounded by dead
coral rubble is the ultimate confirmation of the destructive power of
dragging. When damaged, stony corals don't disintegrate like other, softer
bottom animals, and thus are still visible many years after the damage.
Says, Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre, "bottom longline fishermen
have been saying for fifty years that huge areas of corals have been lost
to dragging, much of it in the first couple of passes of the net and
rollers. What is stopping DFO from recognizing that dragging damages fish
habitat and fostering a switch to less destructive forms of fishing?"
In a 1997 study conducted by the Ecology Action Centre, The Status and
Distribution of Deep Sea Corals off Nova Scotia, fishermen reported that
the Stone Fence-the area where the rubble was seen-was once full of corals
and is now largely barren.
This species of stony coral, Lophelia, also grows in Norway and over there
it forms reefs 20-30 metres high, several kilometres long, and thousands
of years old at the base. Norwegian scientists obtained footage of the
coral reefs intact and of nearby reefs completely reduced to rubble. When
this footage was shown on Norwegian T.V., the public reacted with outrage
and a 1000 sq. km. area was closed to dragging.
It is notable that the Norwegians only excluded dragging, not bottom
longlining. Dragging, the towing of heavy nets, rollers, steel plates and
cables over the bottom, flattens the ocean floor, while longlining, the
setting of a line of baited hooks with anchors at each end, does much less
damage.
Stresses Butler, "DFO has to get smart about fishing and recognize that
some gear types do more damage and start encouraging and supporting the
less destructive forms of fishing." It is the EAC's position that we
won't restore the ocean or fix the fishery if we only close areas. We must
also change the way we fish.
In 2001 the Ecology Action Centre, assisted by the Sierra Legal Defence
Fund launched a legal challenge around the impact of dragging on fish
habitat. The challenge is ongoing.
-30-
For more information contact Mark Butler at 429-2202. The EAC has a
specimen of Lophelia and some Norwegian video footage.
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CBC enviro news-briefs follow:
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STALLING ON THE ROAD TO EL PASO
Shelburne appears to be split over the El Paso natural gas pipeline and the
processing plant proposal. The company held a public meeting Thursday night.
FULL STORY
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_elpaso020927
CROWN CORPORATION ENERGIZED BY POINT LEPREAU
The president of Atomic Energy of Canada made a sales
pitch for refurbishing Point Lepreau Thursday night. The crown corporation
isn't planning on investing in the project but it is prepared to
make some guarantees.
FULL STORY
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_nuclear020927
ENDANGERED SPECIES FIND SAFEHAVEN IN PROVINCE
Four more species will now be
protected by the province's Endangered
Species Act. Two are considered endangered:
the Atlantic Whitefish and the Canadian
Lynx.
FULL STORY
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_endangered020927
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