Government considers new limits on bottom trawling

Environment Minister David Parker says he is open to the idea of phasing out bottom trawling in areas that have not already been trawled, RNZ reports. Parker’s statement comes after new information gathered by conservation group WWF that shows the virgin sea bed covering an area three times the size of Auckland has been trawled over the past decade. While WWF New Zealand and Green’s Eugene Sage want a complete phase out of all bottom trawling, Parker suggested to limit bottom trawling to areas that have previously been trawled and to improve methods to reduce environmental impacts.