Greenpeace Rebrands NZ Trawler Ocean Killer
Aotearoa – Greenpeace Aotearoa activists have confronted a bottom trawler off the East Coast of New Zealand, writing “ocean killer” on the side of the ship, after bearing witness to it hauling in a net straining with marine life.
Launching from the Greenpeace vessel the Rainbow Warrior, activists came alongside the New Zealand-flagged vessel, Talley’s Amaltal Atlantis, on the Chatham Rise[1], an area of ocean floor to the east of New Zealand, and painted the message on its side using non-toxic paint. The vessel is owned by seafood group Talley’s.
Speaking from onboard the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace Aotearoa oceans campaigner Juan Parada says:
“Activists rebranded this Talley’s vessel today to expose the bottom trawling industry for what they are: ocean killers. When Talley’s drag their heavy trawl nets across the seafloor and over seamounts, they bulldoze everything in their path, including killing precious coral.
“Faced with a fishing industry that profits from trashing the ocean, and a government that condones bottom trawling, ocean defenders have taken peaceful action today to call out this destruction and demand that bottom trawling stop.
“The Amaltal Atlantis trawls extensively in the waters of Aotearoa and has previously received permits to trawl in the High Seas of the South Pacific. Their trail of destruction is wide and long-lasting,” says Parada.
Talley’s has a long history of carrying out bottom trawling destruction. In 2018, the Amaltal Apollo trawled in a protected area on the Lord Howe Rise, in the international waters of the Tasman Sea. The Amaltal Mariner was convicted of trawling in a marine reserve off Kaikōura in 2019.
The at-sea action comes just months after a deep sea expedition led by Greenpeace Aotearoa documented whole swathes of destroyed coral in areas of the Tasman Sea that have been intensively trawled by New Zealand bottom trawlers. This area has been earmarked for one of the first high seas ocean sanctuaries, using the Global Ocean Treaty.
New Zealand is the only country still bottom trawling in the High Seas of Tasman.
Parada says, “As the rest of the world moves towards more comprehensive ocean protection for international waters, New Zealand is standing in the way of progress by continuing to advocate for the bottom trawling industry.”
“From depleted fish numbers to smashed coral, dead sharks and seabirds, the cost of bottom trawling is too high. To protect the ocean for the future and safeguard the ocean we all love, bottom trawling must stop.”
In response to the activist’s painting activity, Talley’s responded saying they would seek legal action which “may include the arrest of the Rainbow Warrior.”
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/76372/greenpeace-activists-rebrand-nz-bottom-trawler-ocean-killer-on-chatham-rise/