The first few days in New York at the 'United Nations Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea' (UNICPOLOS)
June 6th and 7th, The first day at the United Nations Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS), saw a series of formal opening statements by state delegations, intergovernmental organisations and NGOs, followed by a more informal panel discussion, in which national officials and stakeholders shared the floor.
For us the opening statements were a first test on whether our work in the past months is yielding the support we require for a UN moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. We were excited to hear New Zealand and Norway raise the issue of deep sea bottom trawling and its impact on seamounts. It was disappointing though that the European Commission, speaking on behalf of the European Community, did not live up to their responsibility as regulator of the world's largest high seas bottom trawling fleet to even mention this issue.
As always, the real politics are shaping up on the periphery of the meeting - in the corridors, the back of meeting rooms and in the cafeterias. In working the 'back rows', Greenpeace 'fish sticks' - smart USB sticks adorned with our logo and containing our documents and extra space for use - have proven particularly useful. They are going like hotcakes amongst the delegates.
As part of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), Greenpeace also hosted a side event. Callum Roberts, a scientist from the University of York, UK presented the irrefutable scientific rationale for a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. We also used this event to launch our new report on the mismanagement of fisheries in the NAFO area (an area off the east coast of Canada), which not surprisingly created waves with some of the NAFO members present at the meeting.
The real business of the meeting began this morning with panel presentations on the issue of sustainable fisheries. Carmen was supposed to be patched into a DSCC press conference by satellite phone from the Rainbow Warrior to tell the media at the UN what was really happening on the high seas. But the UN is a really old building and despite the huge satellite dish outside, we couldn't make a connection to the Rainbow Warrior. Instead, Karen read the statement Carmen would have made, and showed the giant piece of Gorgonian coral that was found in the trawl net of a New Zealand high seas bottom trawler last year.
Back at the meeting, the fishing industry was trying to convince everyone that "bottom trawl nets don't really touch the seafloor, and when they do, it's only for a really short time." This begged the question - if there is not supposed to be much contact with the seafloor, why invent a trawl door called a 'canyon buster'? During the debate that followed, Greenpeace were called 'pirates' for trying to stop bottom trawlers from killing off deep-sea life in the North Atlantic last year - we are thinking of investing in some eye-patches and a flag with a skull and crossbones!
Matt Gianni then got to respond to some of the myths we'd heard earlier on behalf of the DSCC. He explained why we are calling for a moratorium and how destructive bottom trawling really is to deep-sea life. Another lively debate followed before the meeting adjourned for the day.
Meanwhile, it appears that the European Union Member States have come unprepared for this meeting. They seem unable to agree on a strong common position. We've heard that they may actually agree to something by Thursday - hopefully in the nick of time to positively influence the process here.
Tomorrow afternoon's panel has two influential scientists on it, and then Karen gets to speak. We'll make sure she has her pirate robes pressed and ready for the occasion.
