St. John's — Canada is teaming up with some of its traditional high seas foes to fight efforts for an international ban on the controversial practice of dragging the ocean bottom for fish.
While bottom trawling occurs largely unregulated in international waters, internal documents show that federal fisheries officials are concerned that a high seas moratorium could make its way into Canadian jurisdiction.
“While Canadian fishers engage in almost no bottom trawling on the high seas, bottom trawling is regularly practised within Canada's (exclusive economic zone) and there is significant concern domestically that any international action would be applied in Canadian waters,” say internal briefing documents obtained through the access to information legislation.
Greenpeace International and a coalition of 50 other environmental groups have been pushing the United Nations to endorse a ban in international waters.
While a UN resolution is not binding, it puts pressure on members to comply.
Last year Canada teamed with Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Portugal to sponsor an alternative resolution that avoided a ban, instead expressing concern about damage to marine environments.
At the time, Canadian ports were closed to vessels from Denmark, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, a self-governing region of Denmark. Canadian officials accused the Faroe Islands of an illegal shrimp fishery on the Grand Banks — just outside of Canada's 200-nautical-mile jurisdiction.
Portugal has been cited as one of the main offenders for fishing violations on the Grand Banks and has received more citations from Canadian inspectors than any other country.
The watered-down UN resolution passed 141-1.
In bottom trawling, or dragging, 200- to 300-metre weighted nets with wheels are lowered to the ocean floor to scoop up fish such as shrimp and flatfish.
Conservationists say they essentially bulldoze the sea floor, shattering coral and scooping up several kilograms of by catch for every kilogram of the target species.
There are between 250 and 300 such vessels in the world, according to Greenpeace International.
“They're so destructive,” says Karen Sack, an oceans policy adviser to the group.
But Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan has said any fishing method can be harmful if used improperly.
Canada “does not support the banning of any fisheries practice or gear type unless and until the appropriate scientific verification support this,” according to the internal briefing documents.
Mr. Regan advocates marine protected areas where bottom trawling is not allowed, such as the Sable Gully off the coast of Nova Scotia.
However, just a tiny fraction of the area within Canada's jurisdiction has been declared off limits.
Canada has funded just two major studies and has not mapped the ocean floor within its jurisdiction.
“Every scientist will tell you more science is needed,” says Jake Rice, director of science advice for the fisheries department. But such research is extremely expensive.
A national meeting is planned for March to review all of the Canadian science on bottom trawling.
The results of U.S. and European studies are similar, he says.
In areas where there is a lot of natural disturbance by tidal currents, for example, and areas with a long history of bottom trawling, “continued trawling has almost no measurable impact,” Mr. Rice says.
“On the other hand, when you're dealing with complex sea floors, areas which do not have a history of being fished, even a small amount of trawling can cause a major disturbance.”
Greenpeace says Canada shouldn't wait for its own studies.
“The lack of scientific evidence should not be used as the basis for not doing anything,” Ms. Sack says. “By the time you finally get the scientists there, there's nothing left.”
Bottom trawls represented 28 per cent of the total landed value of fisheries in eastern Canada, about $500-million, in 2001.
At least 40 per cent of the Canadian sea floor has never been trawled, Mr. Rice says. Other areas are dragged several times a year.
More mapping is needed, he says, and a major project proposal is under consideration by the federal government.
But the current state of the Canadian fishery has eased the pressure, he says.
“The reason a lot of us don't feel in a panic about his is we don't see trawl efforts expanding in the near future. We all know that the fish quota, in comparison to historical quotas, generally are lower,” he says. “The low quotas give us some breathing room.
In fact, most of the East Coast remains closed to cod fishing.
On the international stage, Canada advocates regional fisheries management organizations, such as the oft-criticized Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, as the best means of protection.
“Canada is particularly concerned with the way in which fishing practices are being targeted for bans, and would instead like the international community to focus efforts on expanding the mandate and capacity of RFMOs to address ecosystem and precautionary approaches in fisheries management in order to protect sensitive marine areas,” say the internal documents.
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