HEAVY METAL BAND ‘THE SEABED SLAYERS’ WOW THE CROWDS AND DELEGATES AT UNOC 2025, NICE
08.06.2025
⬆️ Can you hear the noise? Photo Guy Reece.
Today at UN Oceans Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, Ocean Rebellion’s heavy metal band, the Seabed Slayers, were honoured to open the civil society Blue March.
They thrilled marchers with a sonic uproar who writhed to the clashing beat, the sonic uproar is similar to the noise and chaos unleashed by bottom trawling which, encouraged by EU leaders, still destroys European Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This is the way European Governments lie about industrial fishing, by writing ‘they protect our seas with MPAs’ while allowing industrial fisheries to overfish them. MPAs have been described as ‘paper parks’ – they look good on paper but have no value in real life, especially when EU policies offer subsidies to all destructive fishing methods, including the worse of all, bottom trawling.
⬆️ Mic dropped lets use a megaphone.
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Coastal Member States have designated MPAs to protect habitats such as reefs and sandbanks and iconic species including the bottlenose dolphin, harbour porpoise and grey and common seals. But industrial fishing fleets still drag massive bottom trawling nets through such ‘protected’ seabeds to catch fish and other marine species.
Bottom trawling is the most destructive fishing method, resulting in irreversible ecosystem loss and the release of massive amounts of carbon stored in the seabed. Banning it would avoid 93% of all EU fish discards and bycatch (marine life that is co-incidentally caught and discarded dead or dying into the sea or non-target marine life which is also discarded dead or dying overboard). Bottom trawling not only damages fish populations but harms the fishing industry itself, especially small-scale and low-impact fishers that account for 80% of the active European fleet and 50% of jobs in the sector.
⬆️ Stop everything and listen – “you gonna die if you carry on”, seabed slayers s[l]ay.
The fate of the Ocean depends on us all.
Our interventions depend on your support.
The Seabed Slayers
The Seabed Slayers are concerned about the whole seabed and were formed from the infamous ‘Polymetallic Nodules’ – Ocean Rebellion’s Deep Sea Mining (DSM) heavy metal band who have thrilled car parks and conferences across the DSM world. And, as you know, the seabed is the largest ecosystem on Earth and it is threatened by industry on all fronts. Only recently Donald Trump declared war on the deep by restarting the Deep Sea Mining gold rush and reinvigorating the failing Gerard Barron and his ponzi scheme ‘The Metals Company’. Bottom trawling is just the same, it’s an industry focussed on extraction with no care for the harm it is doing.
‘The Seabed Slayers’ know all extractive seabed industries are the same and the only response is to end them now. The seabed is not a resource it is an ecosystem which requires common care. Traditional fishing communities understand this, they rely on it for sustenance. The same cannot be said for the industrial trawler owners, deep sea mining companies and venture capitalists who only view the seabed as a commercial opportunity. But what happens when the seabed is stripped bare? Do they really think they’ll be better off? After all the seabed is the largest carbon capture sink on Earth and the Ocean gives us every second breath we take – can they (and us) really manage without that?
as the sea dies we die
⬆️ FishStixx drums up the crowd, the sand starts bouncing.
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Stefanie Wels from Ocean Rebellion says: “The deep sea is not a ‘resource’ to be plundered at will by a few greedy companies. It’s a vital habitat we know little about. The UN International Seabed Authority must stop this insanity now and start protecting the seabed for the benefit of ALL life, not for the benefit of its own funding model nor a group of greedy insiders. Also, science overwhelmingly says NO to deep sea mining. There is no reason to do it!”
⬆️ Have you heard enough? Tough shit here’s some more.
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Ocean Rebellion demands:It’s time for zero nets and an end to bottom trawling. The EU, led by France, can start by really protecting Marine Protected Areas and banning bottom trawling across the EU fishing fleet. By sending out a clear commitment to the Ocean the EU will lead the world by turning the tide against marine biodiversity loss. By saying no to the global fishing industry and yes to its own citizens, the EU can restore wonder and pride in its seas. Which, with the right subsidies and policies, will help coastal communities become custodians of their local seas and care for the Ocean.
⬆️ Don’t Touch My Bottom.
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Photos by João Daniel Pereira.