Latest news with #GreenpeaceGreenpeaceAotearoa
Scoop
13-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
Attenborough's Ocean Highlights Horrors Of Bottom Trawling
Opinion – Greenpeace Greenpeace Aotearoa and allies have been campaigning for decades to restrict this damaging fishing practice from where it does the most harm, but has faced continuous pushback from the NZ industry and a lack of ambition from successive governments. Greenpeace is welcoming the release of David Attenborough's latest documentary Ocean, which shines a spotlight on the scale of bottom trawling destruction, and issues an urgent message to turn the tide. The veteran broadcaster's latest documentary turns its attention to the brutal realities of industrial fishing, and the damage it's doing to the global oceans. With never before seen footage of trawling across the seabed, Attenborough attests: 'The idea of bulldozing a rainforest causes outrage, yet we do the same underwater every day. 'Surely you would argue it must be illegal.' Greenpeace Aotearoa and allies have been campaigning for decades to restrict this damaging fishing practice from where it does the most harm, but has faced continuous pushback from the NZ industry and a lack of ambition from successive governments. In the high seas of the South Pacific, New Zealand is the last country to be bottom trawling, and has blocked protections for vulnerable habitats from this method. Oceans campaigner Ellie Hooper says the writing is on the wall when it comes to bottom trawling, with the majority of New Zealanders supporting the method being banned on seamounts and similar features. 'Despite the NZ fishing industry's desperate attempts to greenwash itself and claim their activities are sustainable, there is no such thing as sustainable bottom trawling, especially when it happens on sensitive habitats. 'Bottom trawling is destructive by nature. Dragging heavy nets across the seabed destroys coral and sponge habitats on seamount areas, and releases carbon stored in the seabed. It has huge biodiversity and climate impacts. This destructive method also catches and kills huge numbers of non-target species, with anything from dolphins, fur seals and seabirds becoming collateral damage.' A government report released in 2023 showed that 99% of coral bycatch was attributed to bottom trawling methods over a thirteen year period – 200 tonnes of it having been observed coming up in nets. 'This is only the tip of the iceberg,' says Hooper, 'given that most of the coral destroyed by trawlers does not come up in the net.' 'Many fish stocks in New Zealand are also data deficient, meaning we actually don't know how they're doing. Signs from some orange roughy populations that have been assessed in recent years do not paint a good picture. They're showing signs of decline, and breeding groups of fish have disappeared from where they once were.' The place where they were deemed to be doing better was on a seamount that has been closed to bottom trawling for years. 'In the middle of an ocean and biodiversity crisis, bottom trawling is too destructive to continue. The industry can try to split the issue any way they want – but the writing is on the wall. And the footage from this documentary really says it all.' At the end of Ocean, Attenborough encourages world leaders to propose global ocean sanctuaries at the UN Ocean Conference in June. These sanctuaries, made possible under the hard-won Global Ocean Treaty, would be a critical part of protecting the world's oceans, including in the Tasman Sea.
Scoop
13-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
Attenborough's Ocean Highlights Horrors Of Bottom Trawling
Opinion – Greenpeace Greenpeace Aotearoa and allies have been campaigning for decades to restrict this damaging fishing practice from where it does the most harm, but has faced continuous pushback from the NZ industry and a lack of ambition from successive governments. Greenpeace is welcoming the release of David Attenborough's latest documentary Ocean, which shines a spotlight on the scale of bottom trawling destruction, and issues an urgent message to turn the tide. The veteran broadcaster's latest documentary turns its attention to the brutal realities of industrial fishing, and the damage it's doing to the global oceans. With never before seen footage of trawling across the seabed, Attenborough attests: 'The idea of bulldozing a rainforest causes outrage, yet we do the same underwater every day. 'Surely you would argue it must be illegal.' Greenpeace Aotearoa and allies have been campaigning for decades to restrict this damaging fishing practice from where it does the most harm, but has faced continuous pushback from the NZ industry and a lack of ambition from successive governments. In the high seas of the South Pacific, New Zealand is the last country to be bottom trawling, and has blocked protections for vulnerable habitats from this method. Oceans campaigner Ellie Hooper says the writing is on the wall when it comes to bottom trawling, with the majority of New Zealanders supporting the method being banned on seamounts and similar features. 'Despite the NZ fishing industry's desperate attempts to greenwash itself and claim their activities are sustainable, there is no such thing as sustainable bottom trawling, especially when it happens on sensitive habitats. 'Bottom trawling is destructive by nature. Dragging heavy nets across the seabed destroys coral and sponge habitats on seamount areas, and releases carbon stored in the seabed. It has huge biodiversity and climate impacts. This destructive method also catches and kills huge numbers of non-target species, with anything from dolphins, fur seals and seabirds becoming collateral damage.' A government report released in 2023 showed that 99% of coral bycatch was attributed to bottom trawling methods over a thirteen year period – 200 tonnes of it having been observed coming up in nets. 'This is only the tip of the iceberg,' says Hooper, 'given that most of the coral destroyed by trawlers does not come up in the net.' 'Many fish stocks in New Zealand are also data deficient, meaning we actually don't know how they're doing. Signs from some orange roughy populations that have been assessed in recent years do not paint a good picture. They're showing signs of decline, and breeding groups of fish have disappeared from where they once were.' The place where they were deemed to be doing better was on a seamount that has been closed to bottom trawling for years. 'In the middle of an ocean and biodiversity crisis, bottom trawling is too destructive to continue. The industry can try to split the issue any way they want – but the writing is on the wall. And the footage from this documentary really says it all.' At the end of Ocean, Attenborough encourages world leaders to propose global ocean sanctuaries at the UN Ocean Conference in June. These sanctuaries, made possible under the hard-won Global Ocean Treaty, would be a critical part of protecting the world's oceans, including in the Tasman Sea.
Scoop
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Greenpeace Calls On Luxon To Show Leadership On Dairy Pollution As Canterbury Floods Highlight Growing Climate Crisis
Press Release – Greenpeace Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Will Appelbe, who is based in Canterbury, says: 'The damage caused by this extreme weather event is real, and will impact communities in Canterbury into the future. But neither is this the last time we will see flooding … Greenpeace Aotearoa says that the damage caused by this week's Canterbury floods is yet another reminder of the risk of continuing to ignore the climate crisis fuelled by the intensive dairy industry. This week, devastating floods swept through the Canterbury region, causing many at-risk areas in the Selwyn District to evacuate, and leading to the declaration of a state of emergency in Christchurch City and Banks Peninsula. Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Will Appelbe, who is based in Canterbury, says: 'The damage caused by this extreme weather event is real, and will impact communities in Canterbury into the future. But neither is this the last time we will see flooding like this in our region. 'As the climate crisis continues, we can expect to see storms like the one that battered the country this week increasing in intensity and happening more often – unless we take action to stop climate change from getting worse. 'Here in Aotearoa, the worst climate polluter is the intensive dairy industry, led by Fonterra. The oversized dairy herd is belching out huge amounts of superheating methane gas, which heats the climate much faster than carbon dioxide.' 'But as we've seen repeatedly in Canterbury, farmers are also among the first to directly experience the consequences of the climate crisis – with extreme weather events flooding their farms, or droughts leading to dry pastures.' 'The way farming is done in Canterbury has to change. We need to transition away from intensive dairying that harms the climate and pollutes waterways, towards more ecological, plant-based farming practices. And Fonterra and our Government need to support that transition.' Since the 2023 election, Christopher Luxon's Government has rolled back numerous policies that would have reduced New Zealand's impact on the climate crisis, including several in the agricultural sector. 'Cantabrians are seeing the consequences of inaction on climate change today,' says Appelbe. 'This Government's decisions have prioritised profit for a select few over a liveable future for us all.' 'Luxon must show some leadership and reverse the anti-nature decisions he has made, particularly when it comes to our country's worst climate polluter – the agricultural industry. Otherwise, the climate crisis will only get worse.' Greenpeace says that some of the communities being evacuated in the wake of this flood are also dealing with nitrate-contaminated drinking water as a result of intensive dairying. 'If we change the way farming is done, we can prevent the worst of the climate crisis by reducing methane pollution from intensive dairy, and we can protect drinking water, lakes and rivers here in Canterbury, which are under threat from intensive dairy pollution.'
