Rocks to halt overfishing rolls!

Activists drop rocks on seabed to stop overfishing

Environmental activists dropped large granite rocks on the North Sea bed off the German coast on Tuesday to stop trawling, which decimates fish and other marine life.

Deep net trawling near the seabed and other destructive fishing methods are decimating stocks of plaice and sole near the Sylt Outer Reef and destroying the reef itself, a feeding ground for creatures such as common and grey seals, activists said.

The Island of Sylt, Northern Germany. [A screenshot from NASA’s globe software World Wind using Blue Marble, Landsat or USGS layer.]

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The stone reef, an EU-protected area, is similar to a coral reef but made of rock, and is located off one of Germany’s North Frisian Islands, near Schleswig Holstein and Denmark, Reuters reported.

“The harbor porpoise population is one of the most threatened species of whale and dolphin in Europe and giving protection to this species was one of the primary objectives for the area,” said Greenpeace.

“We believe what they’ve done is illegal and risks the lives of fishermen,” said the general secretary of the German Fishing Association, denying that German fishermen used nets in the area or that the reef was in any danger.

Greenpeace said its tactics of dropping rocks on the seabed was not endangering marine life.

“We have a very clear knowledge of this and are placing the stones next to the old reef, effectively extending it. There is no damage,” Greenpeace oceans campaigner Iris Menn told reporters. (Source)

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