IMPORTS of Italian fish to the US, worth $1.2 billion a year, could be
banned unless Italy stops using illegal drift nets. Last week a New York judge
ruled that the US government was unlawfully ignoring evidence that Italy is
using the nets in the Mediterranean, in a case brought against it by the US
Humane Society, the Sierra Club and other pressure groups. US law requires the
government to ban imports of fish from countries violating international marine
conservation agreements.
The judge said there was clear evidence that Italy had been violating a
European Union ban on the use of drift nets more than 2.5 kilometres long in EU
waters, and a UN moratorium on using the nets in international waters.
Environmentalists say Italian drift nets entangled five sperm whales and
numerous dolphins in the Mediterranean last year. The US has given Italy until
the end of June to stop using these nets, or face the import ban.
