Greenpeace Says Make 40 Percent of Mediterranean Fishing-Free
Date: 16-Jun-06
Country: ITALY
"(The Mediterranean is) home to some of the worst excesses of both overfishing and illegal fishing in the world. Something has to give," Greenpeace's Alessandro Gianni said, kicking off a three-month tour of cities around the Mediterranean to lobby the public and politicians.
Ecologists are concerned that the Mediterranean, which represents only 1 percent of the world's seas but has 9 percent of its sealife and 30 percent of the world's shipping, is already showing signs of irreversible decline.
Greenpeace said stocks of bluefin tuna were down 80 percent, banned fishing methods such as using driftnets were being used on a massive scale and that tourism and industrial pollution posed added threats.
The Mediterranean does have some legal environmental protection, such as the European Union's Natura 2000 and the "Ligurian Sea Sanctuary" to protect whales and dolphins, but Greenpeace said they covered only a tiny fraction of the sea.
The group said it wanted large parts of the Mediterranean to be named "marine protected areas" where there would be almost no human exploitation of resources allowed.
It cited Australia's move in 2004 to declare 34 percent of the Great Barrier Reef a marine reserve as an example to be followed.
"The implementation of marine reserves elsewhere around the world has produced win-win outcomes," said Greenpeace's Karli Thomas.
"The number of species increases, populations regenerate and with proper and legally enforced management of the fish stocks outside the reserves, both commercial and conservation interests can be met."