Greenpeace activists have targeted a Talley’s-owned fishing trawler at Port Nelson, calling for an end to bottom trawling on seamounts.
Two activists anchored a raft alongside the trawler Amaltal Atlantis at dawn and stayed in the cold and rain for just over 10 hours on Saturday until they were towed away by the harbourmaster.
Greenpeace Aotearoa oceans campaigner Ellie Hooper said taking action was necessary to protect the ocean’s biodiversity.
“We can have a healthy and thriving ocean again, but we have to stop the worst types of fishing.”
Hooper described seamounts as the “building blocks of ocean life, forming essential breeding grounds for fish and a home for unique species”.
“Fragile and slow growing coral live there, often called ‘the kauri of the deep’.”
When large weighted nets were dragged over seamounts “they don’t just catch fish, they bulldoze through everything in their path and net huge amounts of other species”, Hooper said.
However, Talley’s general manager of deep sea fishing Ben Holden said the views stated about the seafood sector by Greenpeace were not “reflective of reality”.
“They are highly exaggerated and designed to misinform and mislead the public around bottom trawling, which is a very tightly controlled and sustainable way of producing a healthy, high-quality food,” Holden said.
“Our industry is very concerned to ensure sustainability in all it does. The livelihoods of our staff, our companies and our consumers depend on ensuring we have a healthy fish population for life.”