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Shrimp Trawling Prohibited in Venezuela

Mar 17, 2009

(Taken from: Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias)
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Caracas, Venezuela, March 6- According to the Bolivariana News Agency and the National Biological Diversity Office’s Director Jesús Manzanilla, a new Fisheries and Aquaculture Law will prohibit industrial shrimp trawl activities within the Republic of Venezuela’s ocean territory and exclusive maritime economic zone.
Shrimp trawling is one of the most unsustainable types on fishing practiced

“The long years of fighting during the past half century have shown the importance of a law that bans this type of industrial fishing, one that causes high environmental impact to marine ecosystems, above all in their biological productivity and the economic factors associated with this”, said Manzanilla.

The Biological Diversity’s spokesperson went on to say that he considers the law will not only benefit biological aspects, but will have an impact on the fishermen’s quality of life as well, in addition to being an exercise in sovereignty both nationally and naturally. Manzanilla also noted how the law will benefit conservation efforts and the preservation of marine biological diversity.

“We know that because of nature’s diversity, we can find the basic building blocks and bimolecular compounds that allow us to discover answers to medical, genetic, and food production questions. These wonders can either be exploited irrationally or reach those who need them most”, he said.

Along with this, he also mentioned how shrimp trawling has represented a threat to biological diversity for years, and that because Venezuela is among the 10 most bio diverse nations on the planet, there is a need to protect its ecosystem.

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