French Ecology Minister Ségolène Royal. (Photo Credit: PS/O Roxo/CC BY-SA 2.0)
Minister urged to lobby for ban on deep-sea bottom trawling
(FRANCE, 11/21/2014)
A gathering orchestrated by BLOOM in collaboration with several NGOs including the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition took place in front of a forum in Paris, to call on French Ecology Minister Ségolène Royal to support a ban on deep-sea bottom trawling.
Almost a year after the European Parliament narrowly voted against phasing out deep-sea bottom trawling in December 2013, many seem to think that the new EU deep-sea fishing regulation will inevitably allow this destructive practice to continue. But the proposal is alive in the European Council.
The Deep Sea Coalition highlights that the negotiations at the European Council - stalled for over two years largely due to the intransigence of France - are finally underway under the Italian Presidency.
The French Minister of Ecology Ségolène Royal tweeted on 20 October: "We must stop deep-sea bottom trawling, this is clear."
According to the international coalition, if France altered its official position in the Council negotiations, this could pave the way for a new EU regulation that would protect deep-sea ecosystems from the harmful impact of bottom fishing by phasing-out deep-sea bottom trawling.
Nearly 900,000 people have signed BLOOM's petition calling on the government to ban bottom trawling in the deep-sea. The gathering urged Ségolène Royal to respond to the public concern and work to convince other EU deep-sea fishing countries in the Council negotiations to adopt the ban on deep-sea bottom trawling.
Movie director Yann Arthus-Bertrand, actress Melanie Laurent, oceanographer François Sarano, Green Members of Parliament Laurence Abeille and Jean-Louis Roumégas and Green national secretary Emmanuelle Cosse joined the gathering together with NGOs.
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