Averting an invisible catastrophe

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

As the UN General Assembly debate on oceans gets underway, Dr Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch plead for action, now

Far out to sea, in the deep oceans, an ecological catastrophe is unfolding. One of the most productive ecosystems on Earth is under assault, out of sight and, tragically, for too many, out of mind.

As the United Nations General Assembly prepares to determine the future of our global oceans, the Millennium Development Goals, must once again be in the forefront of peoples minds.

Protecting the biodiversity of the deep oceans is one of the priorities for action highlighted by the Millennium Projects Task Force on Environmental Sustainability. The Millennium Project was set up by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to identify the priorities and means to implement the Millennium Development Goals, including the 7th Goal of ensuring environmental sustainability.

The Oceans section of the report calls on the international community to address the threats to fisheries and marine ecosystems and specifically calls on global fisheries authorities "to eliminate bottom trawling on the high seas by 2006 to protect seamounts and other ecologically sensitive habitats."

The deep sea bed was once considered cold, dark, and dead, but in fact it is teeming with life. Scientists believe that as many as 98 per cent of the worlds marine species live in, on, or just above the sea floor, large numbers of them clustered around undersea mountains known as seamounts, many of which are home to life forms that do not exist even on other seamounts, let alone elsewhere in the sea.

Much remains to be discovered about deep water environments. Fewer than 50 of the tens of thousands of seamounts have been scientifically explored; indeed, in December last year a United States Navy submarine collided with a previously undocumented seamount in the western Pacific. Researchers are constantly making new and remarkable discoveries.

Tragically, however, even as scientists chip away at the secrets surrounding the deep sea, the habitats and species they are trying to study are being destroyed by bottom trawl fishing fleets that are operating beyond any system of international control. The area of the ocean beyond countries 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), known as the high seas, constitute the majority of the worlds oceans. Yet three-quarters of the high seas are devoid of effective internationally agreed controls on bottom trawling.

Bottom trawls are huge nets armed with steel plates and heavy rollers weighing several tons, that are dragged across the seabed, scooping up almost everything in their path and destroying most of whatever is left. In Norwegian waters, an estimated one-third to one-half of deep-water coral reefs have been damaged or destroyed by trawling; photographs document giant trawl scars up to 4 kilometres long. In 1997, a bottom trawl fishery south of Australia brought up an estimated 10,000 tons of deep-water coral to catch less than 4,000 tons of orange roughy.

Such damage would be potentially devastating to any environment, but deep sea ecosystems are particularly vulnerable. With food at a premium, life in the deep sea grows and matures slowly. Slow growth helps living creatures survive in the cold and dark, but slow maturation also means slow recovery from depletion or damage.

Last year, over 1,000 scientists signed a petition calling for a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling, at least until researchers can better understand these ecosystems and determine how, if at all, fishing in them can be managed sustainably. There is no better time for such a moratorium to be adopted, because although high seas bottom trawling has spread rapidly over the past two decades, it remains economically insignificant.

It is estimated that, out of 3.1 million fishing vessels in operation worldwide, only 100-200 are bottom trawling the high seas on a full-time, year-round basis. The approximately 170,000-215,000 metric tons of fish those vessels caught in 2001 was at most one quarter of one per cent of the 84 million tons caught worldwide that year.

And virtually all high seas bottom trawling is conducted by vessels from just 11 countries. The countries of the European Union are responsible for approximately 60 per cent of the reported high seas bottom trawl catch. One nation, Spain, accounts for approximately two-thirds of the EU reported catch and 40 per cent of the global total.

For the past three years the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has recommended that States take urgent action to reduce the threats to the biodiversity of seamounts and cold water coral reefs. It is about to meet on this issue once again. The time for such general declarations is past. The UNGA should now get specific, beginning with a high seas moratorium.

Scientists estimate that at present rates of destruction most deep sea fish stocks caught today in the high seas will be commercially extinct within 20 years.

But lets be clear high seas bottom trawling does not contribute to global food security. It takes two tons of fuel to catch one ton of fish, which puts it out of the price range of the poor countries in any event. The long-term consequences of destroying deep sea ecosystems, however, will come back to haunt us unless we act.

* Dr Jeffrey Sachs is Director of the Millennium Project Task Force on
Environmental Sustainability, and Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch is Executive Director of
the Pew Institute for Ocean Science

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition