Biologists Call for Immediate Ban on Drift-Net Fishing
Some marine species face extinction because of drift-net fishing and the technique should be outlawed immediately, marine biologists commissioned by the environmental group Greenpeace said Friday.
A 10-day study of drift-net fishing in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand showed 20 boats in a three-month season caught 6,400 dolphins, 3,000 sunfish, 3,000 billfish, and 20,000 Ray’s bream as secondary catch.
An estimated 780,000 to 900,000 of the target fish, tuna, were caught and this too was ecologically threatening because many were juvenile, thus depleting adult stocks in tropical Pacific regions.
The disputed technique uses nets 20 yards deep and 30 miles long that trap all fish, sea birds and other marine life in their path.
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