Boycott fish to stop bottom-trawling, say Greens

The Greens want consumers to boycott orange roughy and deep-sea dory because they are caught by bottom-trawling - a fishing method it says is "clear-felling undersea forests".

Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said yesterday that fishing companies and producers would clean up their act only if their profits were affected.

The row over bottom-trawling has been fed in the past few days by Greenpeace photographs of New Zealand trawlers dredging up coral and other sealife in the Tasman Sea.

The Greens say a ban on the practice in domestic waters will be a high priority in any post-election talks with Labour, because of the damage it does to marine ecology.

The fishing industry responded to the boycott call by saying that trawlers fishing for the two species do not set out to bottom-trawl, as their nets get damaged.

Seafood Industry Council chief executive Owen Symmans said fishing techniques minimised the impact on the ocean floor.

New Zealand fishermen did not simply drag heavy trawl gear across the seafloor, as opponents liked to portray.

"Technology today allows boats to 'fly' trawl gear above the sea bottom to target the fish with little impact on the seafloor or organisms that live on the bottom."

But Auckland University marine biologist Steve O'Shea attacked his statement, saying it was absolutely wrong: "You cannot catch orange roughy by any other means than bottom-trawl."

Forest and Bird senior marine researcher Barry Weeber agreed with Dr O'Shea, and said the industry's claims were "bollocks".

Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope has announced progress in a fisheries management agreement with Australia and Chile to help protect biodiversity in international waters - outside each country's exclusive economic zone.

Chile last week agreed to developing a "regional fisheries management organisation" to cover non-tuna fisheries in the South Pacific.

Mr Benson-Pope said one of the new body's key roles would be managing adverse impacts of fishing on biodiversity.