一項針對南太平洋大範圍深海漁業與海底拖網漁釣地區進行控管的計劃，日前受到北半球國家刻意阻撓。上週在澳洲荷巴特所召開的南太平洋區域漁業管理組織籌辦會議上，歐盟、俄羅斯和南韓再次杯葛海底拖網漁釣保護計劃。
這場會議是2月在威靈頓協商會議的後續。會議目標為發展地區漁業協議，針對從印度洋到南美、從南極到北部未定邊界的公海區域中非經常遷徙的魚類進行管理。會議也期望對這些海域拖網漁釣造成的影響進行管理，設立過渡時期的措施。但歐盟、俄羅斯與南韓持續阻擋由澳洲、紐西蘭、智利、太平洋島國和美國所提出的提案，這些提案希望能保護深海魚類免於拖網漁釣之害。
智利政府指出，對深海鯖魚存續藏量的擔憂，使其國內的漁業發展受到限制，鯖魚的存量多寡對拉丁美洲沿海地區在經濟上影響很大。但是，由歐洲國家帶頭的一群成員，卻要求能夠立刻擴張他們補抓鯖魚範圍。
荷巴特市的會議，是在太平洋島論壇國家發表一項宣言兩週後舉行，這項宣言要求太平洋島論壇成員在國際保育團體的措施未提出前，支持並鼓吹在過渡期間禁止拖網漁業。「很明顯的，有些政府似乎下定決心要拖延所有的對漁業限制的決定，好讓他們有機會快速擴增其漁業，總之，等我們所擬定的管理辦法出爐時，商業魚獲的庫存量早已蕩然無存，」世界自然基金會的葛拉漢（Alistair Graham）如此表示。
葛拉漢說：「這種漁業管理失敗的歷史模式在南太平洋再次上演，令我們感到憂心。」
世界自然基金會澳洲分部的發言人希曲（Lorraine Hitch）表示：「8個月前在威靈頓，同樣這些國家同意在南太平洋的這次會議上採用無償過渡協議。但是現在看來，對歐盟等國家來說，即使是在過渡期間限制捕魚行動，這些政府都不願意，他們完全漠視在國際法規下他們應盡的責任。」
Northern Hemisphere fishing nations have obstructed an effort to regulate deep sea fishing and bottom trawling over a vast area of the South Pacific. The European Union, Russia, and South Korea sank a bottom trawling protection plan at a meeting to establish the South Pacific regional fisheries management organization in Hobart last week.
The talks in Hobart were a continuation of negotiations that began in Wellington in February. They aim to develop a regional fisheries agreement to manage non-highly migratory fish stocks on the high seas from the Indian Ocean to South America and from the Antarctic to an as yet undecided northern boundary. The talks aimed also to set up interim measures to manage the effects of bottom trawling in these areas. But the EU, Russia and South Korea repeatedly blocked proposals supported by Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Pacific Island States and the United States which were intended to protect deep sea life from bottom trawling.
The Chilean government said that it is limiting its own national fishing effort out of concern for the sustainability of deep ocean mackerel stocks, which are of great economic significance to the coastal communities of Latin America. But a group led by the European Community wanted the freedom to rapidly expand its catch levels of mackerel.
The Hobart meeting comes two weeks after a declaration issued by the Pacific Islands Forum nations called on members of the Pacific Islands Forum to advocate for an interim prohibition on bottom trawling until international conservation measures are in place. "It is clear that some governments seem bent on delaying any decision to cap levels of fishing so that they have the opportunity to rapidly expand their fishery exploitation, to the point that by the time we get any precautionary management measures in place, commercial fish stocks will have collapsed," said Alistair Graham from WWF International.
"We are concerned to see these historical patterns of fisheries management failure being played out yet again in the South Pacific," Graham said.
WWF-Australia spokesperson Lorraine Hitch said, "Eight months ago at the first session in Wellington, these same governments agreed to adopt voluntary interim arrangements for the South Pacific Ocean at this meeting. Yet now it seems that even exercising restraint in their fishing activities as an interim step is unacceptable to governments such as the European Community despite their obligations under international law."
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