2023-09-14 04:59:00
Overfishing in international waters has increased in the last five years and shows the need to ratify a recent global treaty to protect the high seas, warns a Greenpeace report released this Wednesday (13).
The NGO calls on as many countries as possible to sign the agreement next week, at the UN General Assembly, in New York. Concluded in June, the text was hailed as a historic agreement with the potential to increase ocean protection.
“The reality at sea is moving in the opposite direction to the treaty’s wishes”, highlights the report. Governments must act immediately, appealed Chris Thorne, responsible for Greenpeace’s oceans campaign, aboard an organization ship that docked today in Long Beach, in the US state of California, to participate in the presentation of the report.
Fishing hours on the high seas increased by 8.5% between 2018 and 2022, according to the report, which compiles data from an organization capable of tracking vessel movements through their transmitters.
The increase is especially pronounced in ecologically sensitive areas identified by the UN as possible future marine sanctuaries. According to Greenpeace, fishing in these areas increased by 22.5% in the same period.
Given this situation, using the treaty to create high-seas sanctuaries is crucial, highlighted Samantha Murray, an expert in marine biodiversity at the University of California, San Diego.
In order for it to come into force before the next UN Conference on the Oceans, in 2025, the treaty needs ratification from at least 60 countries, which would allow a conference of the parties to be convened, with powers to create marine sanctuaries. Scientists and NGOs have already identified a dozen priority areas of the high seas that need protection.
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