Crewman on the New Zealand
bottom trawler Waipori dump a large piece
of 'Paragorgia' coral dredged from the deep
sea in their net.
13/06/2005 — Last week Amaltal Fishing Company
director Andrew Talley called Greenpeace assertions
"unsubstantiated claptrap". But
dramatic photos and footage taken by the Rainbow
Warrior crew prove him and others supporting
bottom trawling wrong.
Greenpeace crew from the Rainbow Warrior captured
images of endangered black and red corals
being hauled aboard a New Zealand bottom trawler
in international waters near Norfolk Island.
(Although the smaller corals looks red, it
is the skeleton of the coral that is black.
The large red coral is a centuries-old gorgonian
tree coral.)
"Again and again, we have caught the
bottom trawling industry red-handed with the
evidence of deep sea destruction in their
nets. How many more pictures of clearfelled
coral forests do governments need to see before
they recognise that a moratorium on bottom
trawling in international waters is urgently
needed?" said Carmen Gravatt, Greenpeace
oceans campaigner.
A tree sized piece of 'Paragorgia' coral
being hauled aboard the New Zealand bottom
trawler Waipori.
"Fishing industry leaders scraped the
bottom of the barrel last week when they claimed
bottom trawl nets didn't touch the sea floor.
Well, once again we've got the proof,"
said Gravatt. "We'd like to see the fishing
industry swallow their pride, realise that
bottom trawling is not sustainable and support
our calls for a UN moratorium on bottom trawling
in international waters".
The nets of the Waipori, owned by the Tasman
Pacific company, seemed to have few fish but
many pieces of the corals. Greenpeace filmed
a range of bottom dwelling species that were
also in the haul of the New Zealand vessel,
including a rare crab.
A crewman on the deck of the New Zealand
vessel Waipori holds a rare and endangered
'Paralomis cf. Yaldwyni' crab taken from the
bottom trawler's net.
The 2003 scientific NORFANZ expedition surveyed
throughout this region and identified it as
a 'biodiversity hotspot'. It has been described
as a marine 'Jurassic Park' - with ancient
species that are the tuatara of the sea, as
old as dinosaurs.
The New Zealand Government delegation at
last week's UN meeting on oceans got the message
and made strong moves to get governments globally
to take responsibility for the destruction
of bottom trawling in international waters.
