Greenpeace Victory on Industrial Fisheries

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

GREENPEACE VICTORY ON INDUSTRIAL FISHERIES
-- but North Sea crisis unresolved

Begren, 14 March 1997 -- Following a sustained campaign by 
Greenpeace, Denmark today took a step forward to control
industrial  fisheries in the North Sea.

Speaking at the Bergen fisheries conference, Svend Auken,
Danish  Environment Minister, said they would suspend
industrial fishing in  areas sensitive to wildife. Greenpeace
congratulated the Danes on  this decision and ask that fishin
gin the Wee Bankie off the Scottish  coast should not go ahead
this year.

The Danes also asked that beam trawling should be suspended in 
sensitive areas. Greenpeace demands that other countries act 
immediately to halt beam trawling in these areas.

However the Ministers failed to come up with concrete measures
on all  other aspects of the North Sea fisheries crisis. There
are no steps  to ensure that cod stocks recover, or measures
to deal with spawning  stocks or the suspension of practices
that lead to discarding.

Cod in the North Sea is facing imminenet collapse. Just a few
years  ago, cod disappeared off the Canadian coast, with the
loss of  thousands of jobs in the fishing industry.

The agreed text on these issues is so vague as to mean
anything or  nothing, said Greenpeace campaigner Malcolm
MacGarvin. On past  performance, they probably mean nothing.


While Ministers have agreed to review progress every couple of 
years, there is little of substance for them to review. Once
mores,  where i came to hard decisions, Ministers failed to
take action.


For further information contact Malcolm MacGarvin on +44 468
665 974