Pacific countries urged to protect deep sea life

Environmentalist group Greenpeace on Wednesday urged South Pacific leaders to support measures against high seas bottom trawling.

In a statement released here, Greenpeace called for the region's support of a proposed UN moratorium on high seas bottom trawl fishing.

"There is already a strong and clear momentum for action by the international community and the Pacific can be an important part of this," Greenpeace adviser Duncan Currie said.

Bottom trawling involves trawls up to two kilometers deep and some scientists said the practice would damage cold-water corals and harm marine species and ecosystems.

More than 1,000 scientists from across the world have called for the adoption of a UN moratorium on bottom trawl fishing on the high seas to allow time for scientific study, according to the Greenpeace.

The call for South Pacific's role was made on the sidelines of the three-day 36th Pacific Islands Forum where leaders from the 16 PIF countries are discussing regional cooperation on wide-range issues including fisheries.

The PIF, established in 1971, groups Australia, the Cook Islands,the Federated States of Micronesia, Fuji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa,the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Source: Xinhua