Greenpeace pushes for ban on bottom trawling

Greenpeace wants a ban on bottom trawling, and says it is acting on feedback from Canadians who say they want the practice to end.

Greenpeace and the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre said they surveyed more than 800 Canadians about bottom trawling, an efficient but destructive method of fishing. They said they found overwhelming support for a ban in the survey conducted in late December by Strategic Communications.

• FROM JULY 24, 2005: Greenpeace calls for fish trawling moratorium

Canadians were asked whether "Canada should change its position and support a moratorium against bottom trawling in international waters, even if it might result in some job loss."

In July, Greenpeace requested a moratorium in the Northwest Atlantic, but the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans refused. In bottom trawling, huge weighted-down nets are dragged across the ocean floor, destroying marine habitats and potentially wiping out fish species, says the environmental group.

Greenpeace called for Canadian intervention, arguing that international fishing grounds are poorly managed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, which has 13 member countries.

Greenpeace has accused the organization of turning a blind eye to infractions, saying non-member countries regularly break rules because there is little effort to prosecute.