Moment of Truth for Fisheries Ministers at N. Sea Conf

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR NORTH SEA MINISTERS AT FISHERIES
CONFERENCE

Beregen, Norway 13 March 1997 --  Greenpeace warned today that 
European Environment Ministers faced humiliation at a
fisheries  conference aimed at saving  North Sea fishing stock

The two- day Intermediate Ministerial Meeting on the
Integration of  Fisheries and Environmental Issues opens today
in Bergen, Norway.  It  was called two years ago when
Environment ministers agreed  at North Sea fisheries were in
crisis.

"During these two years, governments have spent vast amounts
of time  and tax payers money producing a document is
essentially worthless,"  said Greenpeace political adviser,
Malcolm MacGarvin.  "The raft text as it stand is not worth
the paper it is written on -- and  the  Ministers know this.
It contains no concrete measures for  protecting the North
Sea. It will not save one single fish

Greenpeace condemned the role that officials from France,
Spain, the  Netherlands and Denmark have played in watering
down the text, and  congratulated those countries who have
tried to get progress, uch as Norway, Germany, Sweden and
Belgium. 

But with the two day conference just about to start,
Environment and  Fisheries Ministers still have a chance to
save their reputation --  and the North Sea fisherie

Greenpeace is calling on the Ministers to
-  implement the precautionary approach
- ban industrial fishing in sensitive areas
- find alternatives to beam trawlers which use heavy chains to
dig up  the sea bed
-  ban the taregeting of spawning shoals of endangered stocks
such as  herring.
-  ban the scandalous practice of discarding.
-  establish credible recovery programmes for endangered
stocks such  as cod and plaice


For further information please contact Dr Malcolm MacGarvin on
+44  468 66 5974 or James Gillies, Press Officer, on +44 385
34 2917 s. s." 
dths.