Greenpeace has dropped 18 huge blocks of stone in the English Channel to prevent "destructive"
industrial fishing
at sea in a protected area in south-west England, the association announced on September 2.
According to Greenpeace, this action will make bottom trawl fishing impossible, these huge nets that damage the seabed and kill non-target species.
Limestone rocks weighing between 500 and 1,400 kilos were dropped on Thursday in the
South West Deeps (East) Conservation Zone
, a marine protected area off the southwestern tip of England.
We “
created this rocky underwater barrier to protect the oceans as a last resort.
We would much rather see the government doing its job
,” says Will McCallum, an official at Greenpeace UK.
“Only way to protect our marine life”
According to Will McCallum, the authorization of bottom trawling in protected areas is "
scandalous
".
"
It destroys large parts of the marine ecosystem and ridicules our so-called (policy of)
'
protection
'," he said.
Greenpeace's action comes as UN talks failed last week to establish an international treaty for the oceans.
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According to the environmental group, the South West Deeps is "
one of
the UK's most heavily fished
'
Marine Protected Areas
'
".
It calls on the government and the future Prime Minister to “
ban industrial fishing in all British marine protected areas by modifying fishing licenses
”.
"
It's the only way to protect our marine life, tackle climate change and support our local fishermen,
" adds Jasmine Watkiss, spokesperson for Greenpeace.
Destroyed “our marine environment”
The organization cites figures from the observatory "
Global Fishing Watch
" which states that 110 vessels - more than half of which come from France - have fished nearly 19,000 hours in the area in 18 months.
Among them, bottom trawl vessels spent 3376 hours in the protected area.
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For Neil Whitney, a fisherman from the south of England quoted by Greenpeace, the practice amounts to “
running a combine harvester through a national park
”.
Bottom trawls “
are capable of destroying an entire ecosystem,
” he laments.
“
Industrial fishing...is destroying our marine environment, and small-scale British fishermen like me are the big losers.
»