Fishing council applauded for trawling ban

A partial ban on bottom-trawling volunteered by the fishing industry brought accolades from some of its harshest critics yesterday.

But the response from environmental campaigner Greenpeace was more muted.

The Seafood Fishing Industry Council, representing the fishing industry, has proposed almost a third of New Zealand's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 31 per cent, be closed to the controversial method of bottom-trawling. The area is equivalent to 4.4 times New Zealand's land area.

Council managing director Eric Barratt said the plan was the biggest single marine protection plan ever proposed.

"Our aim is to protect previously untouched areas so ensure they remain pristine for generations to come."

He acknowledged the areas were not currently fished but said new technology could make them viable.

Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said the industry and Government had often had a "litigious" relationship but said yesterday's move was "an unprecedented win-win for conservationists and fishermen".

"We hope to have all these conservation areas in place by October this year," he said.

Auckland University of Technology marine scientist Dr Steve O'Shea, a long-time critic of the industry's stand on bottom-trawling, described the proposal as "marvellous".

"This is truly a commendable performance by the fishing industry and I never thought I would say those words," he said.

But Greenpeace welcomed the move only as a "positive step".

"It sounds impressive but we need to work out whether it covers areas that are at risk from bottom-trawling," said campaigner Carmen Gravatt.

The debate over bottom-trawling for deep-sea species such as orange roughy has escalated in the past two years as environmentalists push for a temporary ban until the world decides which parts of the ocean bottom-trawlers should be barred from.

The Seafood Industry Council has also tagged huge areas outside the EEZ where it would agree to ban bottom-trawlers, if New Zealand and other Pacific countries did decide to set up a South Pacific regional fisheries management organisation.

That was discussed yesterday on the first day of a fisheries meeting in Wellington involving 150 delegates from 20 Pacific nations.

Ms Gravatt said the meeting would not change the push for a moratorium on bottom-trawling.

While decisions on New Zealand's exclusive economic zone could be made relatively quickly, areas outside could be up for discussion for years.

" Without a ban, there might not be anything left to protect," she said.

Mr Anderton said New Zealand would support a global moratorium on high-seas bottom-trawling.

Q & A

What is bottom-trawling?

Trawlers drag large nets across the ocean floor to catch valuable deep-sea species such as orange roughy.

Why do conservationists oppose it?

The nets catch everything in their path, destroying ancient coral and rare marine life.

- additional reporting: Ainsley Thomson, NZPA