Memorandum submitted by Greenpeace (W03)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 Existing legislation is failing to protect
the seas around the UK and the rest of Europe from the multitude
of human threats that they face, including destructive and unsustainable
fishing.
1.2 It is clear that overarching legislation
to protect the UK's Marine Environment is needed—and the
central theme of that legislation must be the protection and restoration
of the marine environment.
1.3 Greenpeace believes that, in order to
protect and restore these important environments, large-scale
marine reserves—areas closed to fishing and all other extractive
activities—must be established without delay.
2.1 The biological riches of the North Sea
make it of huge importance to the millions of people who live
along or inland from its shores. However, the close proximity
of so many people and the consequent heavy use of the sea for
fishing and other activities means that the North Sea now numbers
among the most degraded shelf seas in the world.
2.2 The North Sea is one of the world's
most productive ecosystems. It represents only 0.002% of the world's
marine surface area, but approximately 4% of global fisheries
landings are taken from the North Sea. Annual catches were relatively
stable at about one million tonnes from the beginning of the last
century until the Second World War, after which they are increased
dramatically. The introduction of new technologies, larger and
more effective fishing gear and highly efficient fish-locating
equipment, together with an increase in the size and number of
fishing vessels has led to massive over-fishing.
2.3 The huge threat posed by fisheries to
cod (and other fish species) populations in the North Sea typifies
how the governments of the region have repeatedly put short-term
interests before the long-term sustainability of the fishing industry
and that of the fish populations themselves and the marine ecosystems
on which they depend.
2.4 Greenpeace is calling for the creation
of a network of marine reserves in the North Sea covering not
less than 40% of its surface area. Our new report, Rescuing
the North and Baltic Seas; Marine Reserves a Key Tool (which
we have pleasure in enclosing with our submission), provides detailed
maps illustrating the proposed siting of these reserves. The report,
which proposes an ecosystem-based approach to managing the oceans,
critiques the effectiveness of current initiatives to protect
the marine environment and argues that far-reaching action needs
to be taken now in order to reverse drastic collapses in marine
biodiversity.
2.5 Fisheries management bodies in Europe
have been aware of the downward trends in fish catches and have
tried to come up with solutions, but most measures, including
the use of single species quotas (known as the Total Allowable
Catch) have so far failed.
2.6 A new approach to the management of
fisheries is needed if they are to be truly sustainable. A growing
movement of scientists and NGOs is calling for no-take marine
reserves as an essential tool in fisheries management, and the
scientific evidence that such reserves work is accumulating rapidly.
The merits of the concept have been extensively discussed—an
overview of the main benefits are described in our report Rescuing
the North and Baltic Seas—Marine Reserves a Key Tool.
3.1 It is vital that EU member states fulfil
their international commitments to establish marine reserves;
however the current institutional framework is insufficient to
deliver what is required. The Habitats Directive in its current
form, for example, is woefully inadequate in scope and lacks the
necessary powers to regulate damaging activities.
3.2 National governments, including the
UK, must act now to develop mechanisms at national and EU level
for establishing large-scale marine reserves. Any future mechanism
must be of sufficient scope to encompass the current range of
threats facing our seas.
3.3 Greenpeace acknowledges that achieving
these goals will take a number of years. In the meantime, moratoria
on extractive activities, including fisheries, in the areas identified
in the maps must be implemented using existing instruments.
20 September 2004
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