Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-04-Speech-3-264"
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"en.20080604.26.3-264"2
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"Madam President, scientists in the fishing industry now know that the deep and high seas are teeming with life, most of which remains undiscovered. In fact, about 50% of the animals or flora collected from areas deeper than 3 000 metres are a new species. Scientists have speculated that as many as 10 million species may inhabit the deep sea, biodiversity comparable to the world’s richest tropical rain forests. They are slowly discovering ecosystems which are extraordinary in nature, often hosting species found nowhere else on the planet.
I therefore welcome the Commission’s proposals to require high-seas fishing activities with bottom gears to be subject to a permit, and that the responsible authority will determine that there are no significant adverse impacts on ecosystems in the high seas before issuing the permits. Action is long overdue in this area and I would like to thank Duarte Freitas for his report.
Bottom trawling is causing unprecedented damage to the deep-sea coral and sponge communities. Unregulated bottom gear can also reach submerged mountains or seamounts, bulldozing their way across the ocean floor and destroying all life in their path. Species may become extinct before scientists even have a chance to identify them.
Unfortunately, the European Union is at the epicentre of deep-sea bottom trawling. In 2001, Member States, including our new Baltic States, took approximately 60% of the high-seas bottom-trawl catch and in the same year Spain alone accounted for approximately two-thirds of the reported EU catch and 40% of the reported global catch in high-seas bottom-trawl fisheries.
I agree with the rapporteur that the Commission must use the powers it has beyond the fisheries sector to promote concerted action to protect vulnerable ecosystems and our approach must be guided by two key principles: the precautionary approach, which requires us to act when there is a lack of scientific information or uncertainty, and, above all else, ecosystem-based management.
Commissioner, is the 1 000 metre figure an arbitrary figure? I think it is a question of whether vulnerable ecosystems exist above this figure and not just below it, as some colleagues have questioned."@en1
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