Tangled nets
THE Atlantic Ocean is becoming increasingly rougher with a new row erupting over fishing rights in international waters. The European Community (EC) and Canada are locked in fierce combat over access to Greenland halibut catches off the coast of Newfoundland. Even diplomacy seems to have floundered. As the EC Fisheries Commissioner, Emma Bonino, gloomily acknowledged in late March, "The results of our political discussions are very disappointing."
The dispute between the ec and Canada is centred around the 27,000-tonne halibut (turbot) quota for 1995 fixed on February 1 by the 15-member Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (nafo). Unhappy with its meagre 12 per cent share, the ec insisted that it was entitled to a higher limit of 69 per cent. The problem is that Canada lays claim to 60 per cent of the catch. The ec's fleet caught more than 40,000 tonnes of halibut last year. Canada alleges that Spanish and Portuguese vessels off Newfoundland exceeded the ec nafo quota of 3,400***(what the fuck?) tonnes many times over.
The feud, however, came to a head on March 10, when a Spanish trawler, the Estai, was fired upon and seized off Newfoundland by Canadian coast guards. As the trawler made its way to St John's, Newfoundland, where the captain was to face charges under Canada's fish conservation laws, the ec protested against what it termed "an act of organised piracy". Canada's decision to attack outside its 200-mile national fishing zone gave validated the charge. "What they want really is to change the law of the sea," asserted Javier Elorza, Spain's representative to the ec. As a gesture of its displeasure, the ec broke off all formal contacts with Canada.
Although the fishing vessel has now been released and both sides are back to the negotiating table, Canada has bluntly refused to relax its vigil over trawling off Newfoundland. It has refused to withdraw both legislation enacted on March 3 which extends its maritime jurisdiction beyond the 320 km limit and a 60-day moratorium on halibut fishing that it imposed unilaterally on March 6.
The ec's suggestions to resolve the imbroglio include specifying the minimum size for fish caught outside Canada's territorial limit. The rider is that a compromise with Canada on the halibut quota is possible only under the umbrella of nafo, which monitors fishing in the grounds of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. The ec also proposed satellite monitoring of the fishing grounds, although Canada would prefer tighter patrolling with a nafo observer on board each ship.
The ec-Canada fishing wrangle is yet another ominous sign that the high seas are set to become the economic battlegrounds of the future (Down To Earth, July 31, 1994). This trend is corroborated by recent studies by the United Nations's Food and Agriculture Organisation which found that overfishing had affected a mindboggling 70 per cent of the world's fish stocks. Simultaneously, fishing fleets the world over have expanded dramatically -- twice the size required for fishing at a sustainable rate, according to Greenpeace. Hindered only by diplomatic constraints, the world seems to be trawling deep for trouble.