Celtic League have been highlighting for several years how industrial fishing is damaging for the marine environment. Fish stocks are being decimated and in addition to the eco damage being wrought often small coastal communities are deprived of a sustainable livelihood they have managed for decades.
In addition there is abuse and exploitation of crew members, often from third world countries, who can be forced to work long dangerous hours and get minimal or in some instances no earnings. In articles which we highlighted whilst working with reporter Ian Urbina at the New York Times we highlighted even worse excesses in his series of articles entitled ‘The Outlaw Ocean’.
Now to compound matters further new research by Aberdeen University shows the toll that overfishing (plus other factors such as climate change) is taking of seabird numbers with a catastrophic 70% decline in the seabird population.
There is no single villain here. Fishing fleets from Russia, China, Japan, the United States, the EU, and Scandinavia etc are ravaging the world’s oceans. Calls by NGOs like ourselves and even heavyweights such as Greenpeace to National governments, the IMO and ILO have to date gone unheeded.
What will it take for a wake up call species extinction? It’s already happening!
Here’s the BBC Scotland link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/…/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetl…
The report calls for better ‘management’ of resources – something the EU has averred it has been doing for years but to no avail.
Related links CL main site:
https://www.celticleague.net/…/new-york-times-expose-distu…/
https://www.celticleague.net/…/outlaw-ocean-murder-video-h…/
https://www.celticleague.net/…/imo-urged-to-investigate-th…/
https://www.celticleague.net/…/outlaw-ocean-disturbing-rev…/
Bernard Moffatt
Assistant General Secretary
Celtic League
