Further to the discovery and documentation of two Spanish-flagged vessels bottom trawling in the Atlantic last month, Greenpeace took action against a third vessel, the Lithuanian-flagged Anuva owned and operated out of Spain.
The actions took place as the North East Atlantic Fisheries Council met in London, just days ahead of the United Nations General Assembly debate on the future of the high seas in New York on 16 November. If bottom trawling on the high seas continues unchecked, it threatens to wipe out countless numbers of species in our lifetime – a scale of ecological devastation matched only by the wholesale destruction of the tropical rainforests. Yet Spain (responsible for 40 per cent of the global catch) and other EU nations (accounting for an additional 20 per cent) continue to fiercely resist attempts to bring unregulated bottom trawl fishing on the high seas under control.
More information: Greenpeace halts deep sea destruction, 12 November, 2004, Greenpeace USA
• Occupied bottom trawler forces Greenpeace activists overboard, 13 November, 2004, Greenpeace USA.
• Deep sea destroyer disabled, 13 November, 2004, Greenpeace International.
• Greenpeace Deep Sea Defenders, North Altantic 2004, weblog.
