The Deepwater Group made a submission to the Environment Select Committee this week in response to a call from a coalition of environmental and fishing groups to ban bottom trawling on seamounts.
Deepwater Group chief executive George Clement said the government had been provided with misinformation about the fishing practice.
Last November, the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition delivered a 50,000-strong petition to Parliament, calling on the government to ban the practice.
The coalition presented to the Environment Select Committee in August.
Clement said many of the coalition’s conclusions, along with much of the reference material, were only relevant in an international context and not directly applicable within New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Greenpeace spokesperson Ellie Hooper said the commercial fishing industry was missing the point because bottom trawling still destroyed tonnes of coral each year.
Many corals and unique species, only found in New Zealand, lived at the same depths that were being trawled, Hooper said.
Read more:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/455668/call-to-ban-bottom-trawling-faces-opposition-from-deepwater-group