Sea star
The European Commission has taken emergency action to protect the 'Darwin Mounds' cold water coral reefs from destructive trawling.
The Darwin Mounds are approximately 100 miles off the North of Scotland, and were only discovered five years ago. They are a rare example of a cold water coral reef habitat.
The Mounds are dominated by Lophelia corals, which are up to 5 metres high. These corals are found in water at least 1000 metres deep. They support a hugely diverse range of marine life.
The Darwin Mounds are home to deep water fish species such as ling, orange roughy and round-nosed grenadier. Such species are caught for commercial purposes using the highly destructive practice of 'bottom trawling', which damages the coral reefs as well as the marine life inhabiting the sea floor.
Cold water reefs are relatively new 'discoveries' in our oceans and because they are home to so many sorts of unique marine life they are known as 'biodiversity hotspots'. Greenpeace became concerned for the future of the Darwin Mounds and whilst the UK government has been sympathetic to the cause, it has so far been unable to protect them.
The European Union's (EU) Common Fisheries Policy regulates access to the Darwin Mounds and other EU fishing grounds. If the UK Government had instigated a ban on fishing on the Darwin Mounds they would only have been able to stop UK fishing vessels from trawling in the area - other EU vessels would not have been affected by the ban.
The UK government recently appealed to the EU for special protection for the site - and thankfully, protection has now been granted.
Unfortunately, the emergency protection is only in force for 6 months. Greenpeace is campaigning to ensure such vulnerable areas are afforded permanent protection.
Bottom trawling and huge scale commercial fishing has devastated our oceans and the marine life they support. Recent reports suggest that 90% of large marine species, including sharks, tuna, swordfish and cod, have disappeared from our oceans over the past 50 years. What's left of the planet's underwater life faces further threats in the form of pollution, climate change, noise disturbance, dredging, and fossil fuel extraction.
Greenpeace is committed to protecting our ocean ecosystems. We commend the UK and EU governments for taking action to protect the Darwin Mounds. We will be urging both governments to take action to permanently protect the Darwin Mounds and take action to preserve other crucial marine ecosystems.
