20/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 17 February, an international group of marine environment experts called for an end to public subsidies to fuel for industrial fishing on the high seas, which is exhausting fish stocks and destroying the ecosystem. Industrial fishing vessels are travelling thousands of kilometres and are fishing at greater and greater depths, said Elliott Norse of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute. Vessels operating more than 200 nautical miles from the coast, outside countries' exclusive economic zones, are not subject to any regulation. On the high seas, these trawler fleets behave like environmental pirates, using the very latest technology to clean out the depths, he added. Without subsidies, the world high seas fishing industry would incur losses of $50 million. (lc)