They say “NO” to the destruction of the Deep Ocean

Slide-SoutiensGB

 

Paris, 24 October 2013

 

Actors Edward Norton and Jean-Pierre Darroussin, business man Richard Branson, buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, designer Philippe Starck , film directors Coline Serreau, Luc Jacquet, Jacques Perrin and Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Bixente Lizarazu, Jean -Michel Jarre, Nicolas Hulot and many others personalities from the arts, literature, sports and science join BLOOM and more than 21,000 people who signed the petition to François Hollande to say “NO” to the destruction of the Deep Ocean.

Today BLOOM reveals this exceptional mobilization through a gallery posted on our site : https://www.bloomassociation.org/en/support

Bâches Slider ©C. Nouvian_BLOOM_2513This morning, passengers traveling on the Thalys or Eurostar trains to Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and United Kingdom also discovered in the Paris train station Gare du Nord,  two spectacular billboards of 110 m2 each, hung in the night from October 23 to 24 and calling on citizens, MEPs and governments of the European Union to say “NO” to destructive fishing in the deep sea. The poster compared deep-sea bottom trawling to a weapon of mass destruction.

It turns out that 17 days would suffice for a single deep-sea trawler to devastate an area as large as Paris.

In July 2012, the European Commission proposed to eliminate the most destructive methods in the deep sea, i.e. deep-sea bottom trawling and bottom gillneting. After numerous delay tactics of the fishing industry representatives and the professional lobbying firms they have hired, the 25 members of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee will, at long last, be voting on November 4th on the deep-sea fishing regulation. This includes measures which are alone capable of protecting the deep sea from inexorable and unnecessary destruction.

However, 15 months after the release of the European Commission’s legislative proposal, the deep-sea file has not yet been discussed even once in the European Council. This is mainly due to the blockage that France operates in highest opacity (decision-making processes in the Council operates completely out of public view with little transparency).

Growing media and citizen mobilization on the topic of deep-sea fishing now press French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to stop blocking the legislative process. France should officially request as quickly as possible that the deep-sea file be discussed at Council.

 

NB : BLOOM wishes to thank Akuo Foundation, ADM Capital Foundation and Synchronicity Earth for their vital support. The visual of the giant billboard at Gare du Nord was made possible thanks to the generous support of TBWA Corporate and graphic artist Fred Perrot.

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