Turbot Fishing/UN Fish Conference

[The.Greenbase@gb.greenpeace.org]

>> GREENPEACE DOCUMENTS MORE SPANISH FISHING IN TURBOT FISHWARS   


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                    GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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>> GREENPEACE DOCUMENTS MORE SPANISH FISHING IN TURBOT FISHWARS   
Urges Canada to get serious at United Nations fish talks  
 
ST. JOHN'S, MARCH 31, 1995 (GP) New Greenpeace footage shot in
the turbot war zone off Newfoundland shows a Spanish trawler
continuing to fish, despite calls for a moratorium on fishing the
dwindling turbot stocks.
 
Greenpeace campaigners returned to St John's, Newfoundland this
morning on board the MV Cape Mugford after monitoring the tense
stand-off between Spanish trawlers, the Canadian Coastguard and a
Spanish naval vessel.
 
Despite stormy seas, Greenpeace campaigners drove a zodiac
inflatable boat repeatedly across the bow of the Ria de
Pontevedra's, impeding the trawler after it had refused
Greenpeace's demand to stop fishing.  
 
Greenpeace spent the past week shadowing Spanish trawlers in a
continuation of the international environmental organization's
efforts to combat fish stock decline.  Canadian Fisheries
Minister Brian Tobin has claimed the turbot are under threat of
extinction if fishing continues.
 
In an about-face, negotiators for Canada at UN fisheries talks in
New York were backing down on agreeing to tougher measures to
protect fish stocks, such as turbot, and other so-called
straddling and highly migratory fish stocks.
 
Greenpeace was stunned when the Canadian delegation to UN
fisheries talks on Wednesday refused to support a proposal put
forward by the United States, with support of the European Union,
for mandatory rules for precautionary fisheries management, both
inside and outside the 200 mile zone.
 
Canada's backpedalling on the precautionary approach caught
observers of the UN fisheries talks by surprise.  Greenpeace
fisheries lobbyist, Matthew Gianni, said at the UN: "It's
hypocritical that the Minister in his opening statement to the
fisheries conference called for strong, precautionary fisheries
protection measures, while his delegation refuses to support
mandatory precautionary measures."  
 
Mr. Tobin, in his attack on Spain and the European Union in his
opening address Monday called the "precautionary approach" one of
five key elements Canada expects to see in the final outcome of
the UN conference.  The minister stated that conservation inside
Canada's waters is "futile" unless the precautionary approach is
applied to fishing on the high seas.
 
"The rhetoric and the reality have to match." said Catherine
Stewart, Greenpeace Canada Fisheries Campaigner at a news
conference this morning. "Canadians have supported their
government throughout the turbot dispute. They will be bitterly
disappointed if Canadian representatives at the UN don't follow
through on their recent stand on conservation of fish stocks."  
"A strong UN treaty is our best hope for a long-term end to fish
wars. If Canada doesn't actively take a tough stand on the need
for a precautionary approach in New York, it could win the
"battle at sea", but lose the war for fish survival." Stewart
said, as MV Cape Mugford arrived in St. John's harbour.
"We attempted to stop the Spanish fleet from fishing," said Riki
Aguilar Greenpeace Spain fisheries campaigner on board the Cape
Mugford "to press our call for a moratorium on fishing this stock
until the dispute between Canada and the European Union can be
resolved. The Spanish fishermen will undoubtedly carry our
message back to the corporate owners of their vessels."
 
For more information, call:
Catherine Stewart, Greenpeace Fisheries Campaign, St. John's,
709-726-4980
Matthew Gianni or Mike Hagler, New York at the Iroquois
Hotel, 212-840-3080, Room 106.