Editorial

(From The Hants Journal)



The federal government ignored a proposed moratorium recently to ban the savage practice of dragging the ocean floor with huge nets, a ban to which even the eco-unfriendly Bush government has agreed.

For decades marine scientists warned of the detrimental effects bottom trawling has on the fragile ocean ecosystem. During several decades of ruthlessly ravaging the ocean bordering our 200-mile-limit with everything from factory trawlers to foreign commercial fleets, our fishery is in dire straits.

Bottom trawling is comparable to taking a large rake and hauling it across the ocean floor, disturbing and destroying what took thousands or millions of years to create.

The Bay of Fundy is known not only as the home of the world's highest tides, but also as the refuge for an incredible number of unique fish and whale species. It was only in 2004 that fishing and commercial cargo vessels were deterred from emptying their bilge of toxic waste in the Bay. Shipping lanes were finally introduced a few years back with whale migration and feeding patterns in mind.

With the downfall of the cod fisheries the phrase, “gone the way of the cod,� was coined. The phrase will continue to include a lot more fish species unless the federal DFO starts to show even some vague interest in the fishing industry. If we are looking for leadership from our province on such matters, forget it.

Here’s one example of how mixed-up the process really is. If a person takes a rowboat into the Minas Basin to fish for, say, flounder, one can legally catch 10. God help you if 11 fish were found flipping about in your punt. Yet the province and the feds have ignored warnings about over-fishing not only from the scientific community, but from fishers themselves.

The Grand Banks of Newfoundland used to be the most abundant locations for fish in the seven seas. But after many years of over-fishing from foreign and domestic vessels, coupled with the disastrous effects from bottom trawlers, the future of that once plentiful fishing destination looks very grim. The only person ever to take decisive action was Brian Tobin during the 'Turbot Wars', when the former premier of Newfoundland sent the Coast Guard to intercept illegal fishing vessels.

The Harper government has to open its eyes and see what’s happening in the waters off the East Coast. There is no excuse for ignoring the global scientific community when they conclude that at this rate of over-fishing and pollution, the problem with the fisheries may end with the death of the sea itself.

Canada has had so many chances to become global leaders on many environmental issues, but big business wins out every time. It comes down to net profits – right down to the last fish.

The 200-mile limit should be extended until it reaches the limits set from the next piece of land it meets. There is not one square inch of the terrestrial planet that isn’t owned by someone. Why not the ocean? Why is it that in International Waters, no law prevails and fishers can do what they please?

If countries around the globe made the waters off their shores part of their jurisdiction, at least the foreign fishers might be deterred from continuing their practice of catching the best and tossing the rest.

As for bottom trawling, the government has proven the damaging effects this practice has had on Parliament Hill. Why not focus attention on the oceans, where it’s causing much more carnage?