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EarthTrust exposed global driftnetting and led the world campaign to ban high-seas driftnets, from its early expeditions to a United Nations Ban and beyond. Find out about the most successful marine conservation campaign in history - and why it still needs your help! |
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BY THE U.S. COAST GUARD See Story Here |
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| ET expedition photo: Dead Baby Dolphin Entangled in High-Seas Driftnet | |
What are Driftnets?
Driftnets are 8-15 meter deep nets made of fine nylon mesh used
to fish for stocks of tuna, salmon, and squid. The nets are nearly
transparent and are set below the surface to drift overnight.
Between 2-90 kms in length, driftnets function as hanging "walls
of death" for nearly everything they encounter. Fleets
from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan formerly deployed some 50,000
kms of gillnet on a daily basis until the United Nations moratorium
which began in 1993 (and which Earthtrust heavily lobbied for
at the United Nations). These fleets operated in the Pacific,
Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. Larger mesh nets were also used extensively
by these fleets to target billfish and albacore on a worldwide
basis. Despite the United Nations moratorium, pirate driftnetters
continue to wreak havoc on deep ocean ecosystems. The purpose
of the DriftNetwork is to expose and stop pirate driftnetting
wherever it occurs.
Because of its well documented history of destruction of marine
fisheries and wildlife populations, driftnetting is now widely
considered to be the most destructive fishing technology ever
devised by humankind. Combined mortalities to dolphins and
other small cetaceans impacted by these nets were measured in
the early 1990's to be in excess of several hundred thousand each
year. In addition, millions of seabirds, tens of thousands of
seals, thousands of sea turtles and great whales, and huge quantities
of non-target fish species were killed in these nets each year.
Pirate driftnetters--though less numerous than their formerly
"legal" counterparts, continue these destructive practices.
Driftnet fishing is clearly unsustainable and causes indiscriminate
mortalities to wildlife and non-target species. Stopping pirate
driftnetting--as commercial driftnetting has been stopped--would
preserve marine resources and wildlife populations and offer much
needed protection to the majority of fishermen who use viable
economic and environmentally sustainable methods of fishing. It
would also end the destruction caused by the loss of thousands
of miles of net each year. Lost nets, also called "ghost"
nets, continue to 'fish' as they float at sea until sinking under
the weight of their victims or washing ashore where they entangle
seals and seabirds.
Earthtrust and Driftnets
Earthtrust's involvement in successfully curtailing the early
excesses of driftnetting goes back to
1983. The document Earthtrust and Driftnets:
A Capsule History sums up Earthtrust's activities coordinating
the international issue over the years, which climaxed in a United
Nations moratorium on driftnet use on the high seas (i.e. those
ocean waters outside the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones of
individual nations) starting in 1993. Pirate driftnetting, however,
continues. Even at its current level it may be the largest killer
of sperm whales and many other kinds of animals in the world.
Earthtrust is seeking funding to expand the DriftNetwork program
through 2003 and beyond.
In an open letter, Noel Brown, the
Director of the United Nation's Environment Program, said
"As far as I know, the only mechanism now proposed which may credibly provide the information necessary to implement the full Moratorium is the concept of the DriftNetwork planned by Earthtrust."
The ecosystem damages brought on by driftnetting are extensively
documented in Earthtrust's extensive white paper, titled High
Seas Driftnetting: The Plunder of the Global Commons, by international
wildlife law expert Linda Paul.
The moratorium on deep-sea driftnets is not only Earthtrust's
largest vistory, it is possibly the largest environmental victory
in history. In terms of biomass, species, fish populations,
and number of creatures saved which would have been wastefully
destroyed, the numbers are almost incomprehensible.
Ironically, though, this huge but partial victory brought a
certain complacency to the issue. Even though illegal driftnetting
is still going on, and "legal" driftnetting is occuring
within the 200-mile limits of some nations, contributions and
effort to end activities in the Pacific and Indian oceans have
virtually dried up. It is estimated that each Taiwanese driftnet
boat fishing the Indian Ocean kills roughly 50 sperm whales per
season, making this the largest such whale kill in the world
today; yet conventional wisdom seems to be that the issue
is solved.
Earthtrust is dedicated to continuing the work on what is STILL
one of the premier dangers to the marine ecosystem, whales,
dolphins, seabirds, turtles, and other creatures. Contributions
made to Earthtrust's DriftNetwork Campaign will be designated
exclusively for that use.
Pirate driftnetters are still operating! Earthtrust--a small organization
with minimal resources--has documented their operations on several
occassions. The well-publicized incident, in which Earthtrust
was closely involved, is summarized here in an excerpt from Earthtrust's
December 1995 "President's Letter".
The Manager of Earthtrust's DriftNetwork Program is Sue
White, a long-time veteran of critical
wildlife conservation efforts.
Gallery: The DritNetwork in Action
