Sweden edition

Greenpeace launches cod-fishing protest

Published: 11 Aug 09 12:13 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/21236/20090811/

Activists for environmental group Greenpeace have started dropping boulders into EU-protected cod fishing grounds off Sweden to impede bottom-trawling, a spokesperson confirmed on Monday.

Greenpeace to drop boulders in cod protest (9 Aug 09)
Greenpeace fingers swipe supermarket fish (13 Mar 08)
Greenpeace activists arrested on board nuclear waste ship (6 Oct 07)

The group plans to sink 180 boulders into the sea in the Kattegat sound between Sweden and Denmark in response to allegations that trawl nets used by fishermen cause serious damage to marine wildlife.

Greenpeace spokesperson Staffan Danielsson told AFP that the operation, which
began at 11:30am on Monday, "would have no negative impact on the environment" and said the group had carried out a risk assessment that had been approved by independent researchers.

The boulders, weighing between two and three tonnes, are to be sunk in zones classified as Natura 2000 in the Lilla Middelgrund (179 square kilometres) and Flauden (104 square kilometres).

Natura 2000 is a network of sites around the European Union covered by EU directives aimed at protecting wildlife and their habitats.

Both sites lie about 20 kilometres (15 miles) from Varberg port, off Sweden's southwest coast.

"We expect to spend one week here to finish the operation and once we have finish in Flauden, we will start in Lilla Middelgrund," Danielsson said.

AFP (news@thelocal.se)

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18:28 August 11, 2009 by BCR

glad that someone is taking some action.

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21:42 August 11, 2009 by Nemesis

Actually the blocks would need to be about five tons or more, to guarentee that the net will not lift them. I have seen stones on trawlers that have weighed 3 tons, which were dragged up by the net, without major damage to the net and in some cases no dmage at all. A lot of my family used to work in the fishing industry in Ireland years ago.

A better idea would be if Greenpeace welded 3 steel girders at there middle points together at 90 degree angles and encase the entire thing in concrete to about 6 to 8 tons. That would tear through a net and be too heavy for the net or the nets bottom rope to lift. It would also act as a small reef, which would help encourage biodiversity.

Doing that in the spawning grounds would be a good idea, as it would assist spawning, keep nets out of the area and allow areas to form in the sea that have high numbers of spawning fish.

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23:23 August 11, 2009 by DStrope

good for them!!!!!

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23:51 August 11, 2009 by reason

Greenpeace pulls some pretty stupid stunts sometimes, but this time they have my full support. This is something that the government should be doing, or at least sponsoring. But since that doesn't seem likely, I guess a small personal contribution to Greenpeace is in order.

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03:42 August 12, 2009 by Weekend_warrior

While I agree with what Greenpeace is doing for the fish....all this leads to is escalation.

brass knuckles -- knife -- gun -- machine gun --bazooka --bomb

drop cement blocks, they'll figure out another way or just simply strengthen their nets and pass on the cost to the consumer.

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09:02 August 12, 2009 by Sensiblenick

... and the consumer will say "Sod this, Cod's too expensive" and the demand will drop.

... maybe.

Saving the planet's Soooo expensive *sniff* I reckon we should give up.

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09:14 August 12, 2009 by Nuname

and can we all shame vegetarians who eat fish into quitting by taking them to task about the raping of the oceans being OK yet the rearing and killing of animals for meat isn't. Bloody hypocrites.

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09:29 August 12, 2009 by Jamtjim

The difference is that most meat that we eat is farmed and thus our consuption of meat is not directly leading to a species extinction. The "wild" meat (for example) that we consume is usually quite well controlled so that these animals are not threatened either. In addition, the farming of animals does not in general lead to widespread collateral damage to the surrounding environmet (deforestation in Brazil to make way for beef farming aside).

The problem with trawling Nuname is that is causes massive damage to the seabed in the hunt for a species which is already under a great deal of threat. In the process the other species hauled in (some of which may also be under threat) are often killed as well.

Its not about vegetarians (although the idea of claiming to be a vegetarian whilst still eating fish is a strange one to me), it's about the fact that indiscriminate trawling for an already threatened species is one of the worst environmental crimes that we currently commit. As such I fully support Greempeace on theis one!

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09:36 August 12, 2009 by Nuname

That was my point.

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#10

10:07 August 12, 2009 by Holecutter > The Howl From He

Part of my charitable exercises involves working with the EU commission fisheries for the Baltic and the North Sea, and since 1997, we have within working groups made up of NGO's, special interest groups like WWF, universities and member States, to ascertain the extent of the continual declines in the Baltic, of salmon, sea trout and cod stocks.

There is now clear evidence from the EU SAP, that fish stocks in the Baltic are no longer a sustainable resource. From our last meeting in Brussels in April, one of the commissioners stated that there were three areas of concern, a continual decline in the Baltic fish stocks due to over fishing, a real threat of extinction and lastly, a resource that is in real danger due to the in-activity of the member state(s) governments.

Although, much of what Greenpeace has done in the past has been a hit-and-miss but good intention activity. this time around they have got it right.

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