At 9am Greenpeace activists in 3 rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) dropped buoys to prevent a Dutch beam trawler 'the Gorge Johannes Klazina' from setting its nets. Before taking action the activists had called on the trawler's captain to leave the Dogger Bank Marine Reserve.
Six other Dutch beam trawlers then joined the scene, surrounded one of the Greenpeace RIBs and threw missiles at the activists. One of the trawlers then approached the Greenpeace ship Esperanza and fishermen wearing ski masks shot three flares at the ship. One flare hit Esperanza's mast, but no one was injured. Beam trawling is one of the most destructive types of fisheries. Heavy iron chains in front of the nets plough into the seabed indiscriminately stirring up marine life that is then scooped up by the passing net. These bottom trawl fishing methods have all but destroyed much of the north sea's natural ecosystem, with some areas of the Southern North Sea being beam trawled up to four times per year (1).
Beam trawling is also a technique that has the highest level of 'bycatch' - as it indiscriminately scoops up not only all species and sizes of fish but also creatures like crabs, starfish, and anemones. Yesterday a Belgian beam trawler donated bycatch from just two hours of trawling to the Esperanza crew. The bycatch was discarded either because the fisherman had exceeded his allotted quota, because fish were too small, or from the wrong species. A total of 11,000 dead or dying marine animals were identified in the discard included a variety of flatfish, small cod, mackerel, sole, Norway lobster, edible crab and starfish.
The proposed Dogger Bank Marine Reserve is in the middle of the North Sea and is part of the German, UK, Dutch, Danish and Norwegian economic zones.
It is one of 17 areas in the North and Baltic Seas that Greenpeace is calling on government's to declare 'Marine Reserves' which would be off limits to fisheries, new oil exploration and sand and gravel excavation. In total Greenpeace are calling for 40 per cent of the North and Baltic Seas to be made into marine reserves. The proposed reserve areas were chosen based on scientific survey data and include ecologically important habitats, as well as fish spawning and nursery grounds.
"The massive wastage that goes on day in day out in the North Sea is complete madness," said Greenpeace's oceans campaigner, Oliver Knowles, "When you have a plaice on your plate that has been caught by a beam trawler you should realise that eight plates worth of marine creatures have been wasted to catch it.
He continued, "Politicians are failing to protect the North Sea. For fisheries to be sustained long term there need to be healthy fish populations. Greenpeace believe the only way we are going to be able to ensure healthy fish stocks in the future is to make large areas of the North Sea into marine reserves - off limits to fishing, new oil exploration and sand and gravel extraction. If we don't act soon the North Sea ecosystem could be damaged beyond repair and our children simply wont be able to see porpoises and dolphins in the North Sea or eat North Sea fish with their chips".
Greenpeace ship Esperanza is now into the fourth week of a ten-week tour of the North Sea. During this time the ship's crew have been documenting the state of two of the areas that we propose should be made into marine reserves - the Dogger Bank and Viking Bank. They have been recording both the beauty that exists beneath the waves and the devastation caused by destructive fishing techniques and mineral extraction.
This week the ship's crew completed the demarcation of the proposed Dogger Bank marine reserve-using ocean buoys over 15 feet high and weighing 4,000 kilograms. As the tour continues the crew will continue to document and research marine life and take action to protect the proposed reserves from threats.
Further information
Photos and video from the action, a 'newspaper friendly' graphic illustrating the effects of beam trawling and a background briefing on Marine Reserves in the North and Baltic Sea are available from the Greenpeace press office tel. 020 7865 8255.
It is also possible to arrange to speak to the crew live by videophone.
(1) Source: 'effects on the seabed sediment from beam trawling in the north sea', annual science conference Reykjavik ICES, October 1996.
