Greenpeace are at it again!

[monty]

Chrono (and anyone else), if you like the activists-release-virus theme, you might want to check out the movie "12 Monkeys" if you haven't seen it.

Neal Stephenson's novel "Zodiac" is also a funny-ish novel about environmental activism sorts of things, too (not to be confused with Graysmith's "Zodiac" book, which is a true(sorta) crime book about the zodiac killer)

 

[erich orser]

Certain individuals and groups would like to paint all environmental activists, whether they engage in civil disobedience or other "direct action" methods or not, as "eco-terrorists". It strikes me as funny that Tom Clancy has "environmental activists" unleashing a genetically-modified strain of ebola (gee, where'd they get the funding for that?). Anyone actually concerned about protecting endangered species would probably have a problem with what this would do to our primate cousins. It destroys great ape populations as assuredly and quickly as it kills people.

I'm personally a bigger fan of the Jules Verne approach to getting things done, at least from an innocently fictional standpoint.

Incidentally, Tom Clancy was a resident of the county in rural Maryland where I used to live. He evidently enjoyed chasing elderly couples off his beach with a shotgun for daring to continue their decades-old practice of taking an afternoon stroll by the water together. Oops. New property owner: zero tolerance for senior citizens! "How DARE they step on my pebbles! Those are MY pebbles!" Jerk.

 

[Tintenfisch]

Neal Stephenson's novel "Zodiac" is also a funny-ish novel about environmental activism sorts of things

Plus, it takes place in and around Boston, which is cool if you know the area. And helps you forget the obnoxiousness of the main character. This Other Eden by Ben Elton is another interesting take on eco-terrorists, and a fun read. (Not to be confused with This Other Edam, a book on gourmet cheeses.... eh.)

 

[erich orser]

Gourmet cheeses? What's the ISBN number on that one?

 

[Tintenfisch]

Er... 0908790872, but the original title was a limited edition and the New Zealand Amazon site is down at the moment.

But !! (Käsefüße... ? Heh heh)

 

[chrono_war01]

He evidently enjoyed chasing elderly couples off his beach with a shotgun for daring to continue their decades-old practice of taking an afternoon stroll by the water together. Oops. New property owner: zero tolerance for senior citizens! "How DARE they step on my pebbles! Those are MY pebbles!" Jerk.

Well, he didn't say that all enivromental Activistis are like that, but you can't write a exciting book about spud guns, can you?
And Tom Clancy with a shot gun protecting 'his' pebbles is actually quite crazy, are you sure that this happened?

 

[Steve O'Shea]

It's been a rather hectic time here over the past day, and will continue through into the new week.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10330556

Trawlers annihilating seabed, says scientist
14.06.05
By Anne Beston

Bottom-trawling is "absolute annihilation" of the seabed and must be stopped, says a New Zealand marine scientist.

Dr Steve O'Shea, a marine biologist at the Auckland University of Technology who specialises in the study of the mysterious giant squid, said he had had a "gutsful" of the misinformation about the effects of bottom-trawling.

"We are being misled. Bottom-trawling is environmentally unjustifiable," he said.

As the fishing industry and environmentalists wage a war of words and dispute figures of exactly how much of the ocean floor is being affected by bottom-trawling, Dr O'Shea said it was time the Government lived up to its promise to impose marine reserve orders on 10 per cent of New Zealand's marine environment by 2010.

"There should be some urgency. For God's sake let's do something practical now before it's too late."

Greenpeace has been waging an intensive campaign against bottom-trawling, dogging trawl boats on the high seas round New Zealand to highlight what it says is a practice that is wiping out deepsea marine life.

On Sunday, the organisation photographed a New Zealand vessel, Waipori, pulling up a piece of "gorgonian" coral that it says is centuries old.

Greenpeace protesters, working from inflatables launched from the Rainbow Warrior, also took photos of a rare crab being caught in the Waipori's net.

The fishing boat was working in an area known as the West Norfolk Ridge, 320km off northern New Zealand.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Government Talks While Precious Areas Destroyed

Government Talks While Precious Areas Destroyed
Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 4:29 pm
Press Release: Greenpeace New Zealand
14 June 2005
Government Talks While Precious Areas Are Destroyed

Tasman Sea, Tuesday 14 June 2005: The Government's announcement today that Chile will join Australia and New Zealand in discussions on a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation is not the urgent solution needed on bottom trawling, says Greenpeace.

“These talks are not new - they've been going on for 15 years,” said Carmen Gravatt oceans campaigner for Greenpeace.

She said the New Zealand Government had taken the last 15 years to get this far. By the time they actually come to an agreement more precious areas will be destroyed.

“Without a moratorium on bottom trawling, it's in the fishing industry's interests to lobby and drag out these talks for many years to come. This way, the industry can continue its bottom trawling on the high seas where there are no rules.”

”If the Government is seriously interested in preserving biodiversity, they should advocate to get a UN moratorium on bottom trawling in international waters in place while these talks continue. This will ensure there is both fish and other deep sea life left at the end of the talks.”

"It will keep the bottom trawlers away while scientists investigate what exists in these deep sea areas and agreement can be reached over what areas need protection, what can be fished and what fishing method might be acceptable.”

Last weekend, Greenpeace found the New Zealand vessel the Waipori hauling up ancient corals from the deep sea floor in international waters near Norfolk Island. This was in a region known to be one of the planet's “biodiversity hotspots”.

“If it was on land, this area would be protected as a National Park”, said Ms Gravatt. “Why sacrifice areas like this to destructive bottom trawlers while politicians and bureaucrats continue talkfests over management?”

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Error 404

Parties outline conservation policies
Jun 13, 2005

Four of the political parties have outlined aspects of their conservation policies at the Forest and Bird Conference in Wellington.

Labour told the conference it would focus more on marine issues and the high country tenure review process in the South Island.

National said it would improve laws to protect the ocean and biosecurity and look at establishing a new national park in Northland.

United Future told the conference the party wants an emergency summit on pest control and a moratorium on the use of 1080 while the issues are addressed.

The Green Party outlined plans for new restrictions on the fishing industry as part of its conservation policies. Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says it wants companies to prove methods such as long-lining and bottom trawling don't damage the environment before they are approved.

She says the party also wants a near zero limit on the number of threatened birds and mammals which can be caught by accident. Fitzsimons says the Greens know the industry can reduce its by-catch and this is an effective way of ensuring it does.

The Greens also want to increase funding for ground based pest control and limit land ownership to people who live in New Zealand for at least 185 days a year.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=51976

Green Party warns the planet's oceans are being abused and damaged by methods such as bottom-trawling

13 June 2005

The Greens want new fishing technologies to be put through environmental assessments.

They say conservation in the sea is lagging a long way behind what is happening on land, so the planet's oceans are being abused and damaged by methods such as bottom-trawling.

Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says along with the fish, they are taking albatrosses, petrels, seals, dolphins and rare corals hundreds of thousands of years old.

She says there should be a limit on the amount of by-catch in each season, and if it is exceeded the fishery should be closed.

Jeanette Fitzsimons says some of the methods used are the equivalent of using a bulldozer to clear-fell a forest just to catch a few fantails

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Greens call NZers to boycott bottom trawled fish

Greens call NZers to boycott bottom trawled fish
Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 10:37 am
Press Release: Green Party

Greens call on NZers to boycott bottom trawled fish
The Green Party is calling for New Zealanders to boycott orange roughy and deep-sea dory (oreo) as a protest at the clear-felling of undersea forests by bottom trawler fishing.

"It is clear that fishing companies and producers will only clean up their act if their profits are affected," Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.

"While much of the deep sea catch is exported, the effect of having New Zealanders refuse to purchase these species of fish would make companies think again about what they are doing."

Orange roughy is a long-lived species, which is highly vulnerable to fishing on seamounts. It grows slowly, does not breed until it is 25-30 years old and can reach up to 150 years of age. Most populations are now below 20 percent of their original unfished size, with one at just 3 percent. Little is known about the remaining levels of deep-sea dory - also known as oreo.

However, both species are fished by bottom trawling. This method decimates seabed macro fauna and fragile seamount habitats. As well as netting orange roughy and deep-sea dory, bottom trawlers also kill non-target species, including deepwater sharks such as seal shark, Baxter's and shovel-nosed dogfish, soft corals, tall sponges, bryozoans, gorgonia and other corals that have been aged at over 500 years.

"Just last week we saw graphic pictures from the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior showing huge corals ripped from the seabed by bottom trawling.

"If New Zealanders as a whole refuse to purchase these fish species it will send a message to those companies that we don't want our precious seas destroyed. Restaurants serving orange roughy will soon take if off the menu if their customers tell them they won't buy it anymore. Supermarkets will think twice about stocking these products if they remain unpurchased in their freezers.

"Forest and Bird, Greenpeace, ECO and the Green Party have been campaigning on this issue for some years. Now it's time New Zealand as a whole sent a clear message to these companies," Ms Fitzsimons says.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10330745

Boycott fish to stop bottom-trawling, say Greens
15.06.05

By Kevin Taylor
The Greens want consumers to boycott orange roughy and deep-sea dory because they are caught by bottom-trawling - a fishing method it says is "clear-felling undersea forests".

Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said yesterday that fishing companies and producers would clean up their act only if their profits were affected.

The row over bottom-trawling has been fed in the past few days by Greenpeace photographs of New Zealand trawlers dredging up coral and other sealife in the Tasman Sea.

The Greens say a ban on the practice in domestic waters will be a high priority in any post-election talks with Labour, because of the damage it does to marine ecology.

The fishing industry responded to the boycott call by saying that trawlers fishing for the two species do not set out to bottom-trawl, as their nets get damaged.

Seafood Industry Council chief executive Owen Symmans said fishing techniques minimised the impact on the ocean floor.

New Zealand fishermen did not simply drag heavy trawl gear across the seafloor, as opponents liked to portray.

"Technology today allows boats to 'fly' trawl gear above the sea bottom to target the fish with little impact on the seafloor or organisms that live on the bottom."

But Auckland University marine biologist Steve O'Shea attacked his statement, saying it was absolutely wrong: "You cannot catch orange roughy by any other means than bottom-trawl."

Forest and Bird senior marine researcher Barry Weeber agreed with Dr O'Shea, and said the industry's claims were "bollocks".

Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope has announced progress in a fisheries management agreement with Australia and Chile to help protect biodiversity in international waters - outside each country's exclusive economic zone.

Chile last week agreed to developing a "regional fisheries management organisation" to cover non-tuna fisheries in the South Pacific.

Mr Benson-Pope said one of the new body's key roles would be managing adverse impacts of fishing on biodiversity.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Rainbow Warrior Back From Bottom Trawling Protests

Rainbow Warrior Back From Bottom Trawling Protests
Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 9:34 am
Press Release: Greenpeace New Zealand

Nelson, Thursday 16 June 2005: The Rainbow Warrior will sail into Nelson Friday for a weekend of public open days and discussion, after nearly three weeks at sea highlighting the destruction of the deep sea by bottom trawling in international waters.

While at sea, Greenpeace was able to document clear evidence of the impact of bottom trawling, including a tree-sized piece of ancient coral that was hauled up by the New Zealand vessel, Waipori.

"The Rainbow Warrior is coming into Nelson to talk", said Carmen Gravatt, "We want to talk with the community of Nelson about what is happening out in international waters and why Greenpeace is calling for a UM moratorium on high seas bottom trawling." said Gravatt. "Bottom trawling in international waters is the biggest threat to deep sea life."

The Rainbow Warrior will also hold a series of open days for the public in Nelson, Wellington and Auckland before it travels to Matauri Bay, for the twentieth anniversary of the bombing of the first Rainbow Warrior. Members of the public will be able to come onboard over the weekend to learn about the workings of the ship, it history and the impacts of bottom trawling on deep sea life.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

.... and there's something else happening right now!! Time is running out for bottom trawling!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Trawlers damaging coral: Greenpeace

Trawlers damaging coral: Greenpeace
June 14, 2005 - 9:49AM

Greenpeace says it has obtained pictures of a bottom-trawling fishing boat hauling up huge chunks of coral from the ocean floor near Norfolk Island.

The images disproved claims bottom-trawling nets could fly over the surface of the sea floor without damaging the ecosystems, the environmental group said.

The group's website shows large pieces of red coral up to two metres long being removed from the New Zealand boat's nets.

Greenpeace oceans campaigner Carmen Gravatt said the endangered black and red corals were pictured being hauled aboard a bottom trawler in international waters by the group's flagship, Rainbow Warrior.

Ms Gravatt said the federal government was yet to support global moves for a moratorium on bottom trawling.

"Again and again, we have caught the bottom-trawling industry red-handed with the evidence of deep-sea destruction in their nets," Ms Gravatt said in a statement.

"How many more pictures of clear-felled coral forests do governments need to see before they recognise that a moratorium on bottom trawling in international waters is urgently needed?"

She said the nets were on the Waipori, owned by the Tasman Pacific company, and seemed to have few fish but many pieces of the corals.

Ms Gravatt said Greenpeace also filmed a range of bottom dwelling species in the haul, including a rare crab of the Paralomis family.

The images were taken on Sunday on the West Norfolk Ridge, just over 200 nautical miles off the coast of northern New Zealand.

"A scientific expedition in 2003 identified this region as a 'biodiversity hotspot'," Ms Gravatt said.

Auckland University of Technology research fellow Dr Steve O'Shea said the area had been described as a marine Jurassic Park, with ancient species as old as dinosaurs.