Greenpeace out to save the Nordic cod

codDespite the vocal protests of the Swedish government, Greenpeace has started its plan to drop large boulders into the Kattegat sound between the Danish and Swedish shores in a bid to stop bottom trawling by cod fishermen. The global activist group will toss 180 boulders that weigh between one and three tonnes each into two endangered cod areas in the Kattegat.

The Swedish government is anything but appreciative. Eskil Erlandsson, the Swedish agriculture and fisheries minister, told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, “The actions foreseen by Greenpeace rest on confrontation and unilateralism, which risks threatening necessary cooperation. My hope is that Greenpeace will renounce such action and that instead we solve problems together.”

But Greenpeace has no intention of backing down from its agenda, The Local reports. Staffan Danielsson, a spokesman for Greenpeace, accused the Swedish government of holding the cod “hostage” by being irresponsible about the dangers of bottom trawling.

“The cod in the Kattegat is severely depleted, it’s in very bad shape, but there are other things in the oceans as well. We have marine biodiversity (at the seabed) such as reeds, sandbanks, seabirds, corals, and algae forests that need protection from bottom trawling,” he stated.

The group performed a similar stunt off the shores of Germany last year, and claim it has proved effective at discouraging irresponsible fishing there. “This is a conservation measure in order to protect habitats, which is what governments are supposed to do,” Danielsson said.

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