Stop Deep Sea Trawling

Bottom trawling in our oceans is one of the most destructive and wasteful fishing practices on Earth. Heavy metal chains and nets often weighing two tons or more are dragged along the ocean floor, destroying fragile ecosystems and capturing every species in its path. Unwanted bycatch is usually thrown overboard dead or dying.

We�ve been campaigning against the practice of high seas bottom trawling for three years, and now the leadership of United Nations finally agrees with us. The UN Secretary General has just announced that actions taken by nations around the world to address bottom trawling destruction are �woefully� inadequate.

While the world waits for the UN to act, a global fleet of 300 high seas bottom trawlers drags their heavy nets across an estimated 1,500 square kilometers of deep-sea each day, destroying some of the most diverse, ancient and fragile ecosystems on this planet. This inaction has almost certainly caused the extinction of numerous deep-sea species.

Take Action >> Tell our government to take responsibility for protecting the high seas ecosystems covering two-thirds of our planet.

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Dear Chairman Connaughton,

In 2004, the United Nations General Assembly called on its member states to take �urgent action� to protect vulnerable deep-sea habitats from destructive fishing practices such as high seas bottom trawling. On Friday July 14th, the United Nations Secretary General published his review of the �urgent action� taken by States to protect these areas.  The Secretary General�s conclusion is that the action taken by states is �woefully� inadequate. While the meaning of such words are sometimes difficult to fully understand, mapping out the areas that have been protected presents a clear picture of how little action states have actually taken to protect the international waters of our oceans (see the map at http://oceans.greenpeace.org/raw/content/en/documents-reports/protection-of-deep-sea.pdf).

During the two years that the UN spent waiting for states to take action to protect deep-sea life, a global fleet of 300 high seas bottom trawlers dragged their heavy nets across an estimated 1,500 square kilometers of deep-sea each day, destroying some of the most diverse, ancient and fragile ecosystems on this planet. This inaction has almost certainly caused numerous species extinctions in the deep-sea.

On October 4th and 5th, states will sit down at the United Nations in New York to decide what they should do next.  Your urgent action is needed now to protect the high seas ecosystems covering two-thirds of our planet: the measures in place at the moment are clearly not enough.  Your country, as a member of the international community, needs to follow the advice given by the scientific community, a growing number of governments, NGOs, as well as the UN itself. As Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, you have the opportunity and the responsibility to ensure that the United Nations General Assembly takes urgent action. I urge you to work with the diverse range of countries, stretching from the Pacific Island state of Palau, to Sweden and to the host of this year�s meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Brazil, and ensure that a UN moratorium on high seas bottom trawling is established this year.

"Sincerely," and your name and contact information will be added to the end of the letter.

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Stop Deep Sea Trawling

Step 2: Read the letter we've provided. Feel free to edit it.

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