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Bush seeks ban on
destructive sea fishing
October 3rd 2006 4:27pm
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -
President Bush called for a halt to all types of destructive fishing on the high
seas Tuesday, saying the United States will work to eliminate practices such as
bottom trawling that devastate fish populations and the ocean floor.
Bush's memo
directs the secretaries of the State and Commerce departments to promote
"sustainable" fisheries and to oppose any fishing practices "that destroy the
long-term natural productivity of fish stocks or habitats such as seamounts,
corals, and sponge fields for short-term gain."
Bush also
said the United States would work with other nations and international groups to
change fishing practices and create new international fishery regulatory groups
if needed.
On the high
seas, where the vast marine life knows few laws, hundreds of boats drag huge
nets along the sea floor scooping up orange roughy, blue ling and other fish -
but bulldozing nearly everything else in their path.
"It's like
clear-cutting the forest to catch a squirrel," said Joshua Reichert, head of the
private Pew Charitable Trusts' environment program, which has been leading an
international coalition of more than 60 conservation groups seeking to halt the
practice known as bottom trawling on the high seas.
This week,
the groups and some U.S. senators hope to persuade the United Nations to ban
bottom trawling anywhere that it's unregulated. U.N. negotiations over high seas
fishing start Wednesday in New York.
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