Greenpeace activists have started an operation to sink nearly 180 boulders into EU-protected cod fishing grounds off Sweden to impede bottom-trawling, the environmental group said on Monday.
The boulders will be thrown into the sea in the Kattegat sound between Sweden and Denmark, Greenpeace said, alleging that trawl nets used by fishermen cause serious damage to marine wildlife.
Greenpeace spokesman Staffan Danielsson told AFP that the operation, which began at 11:30 (0930 GMT) on Monday, "would have no negative impact on the environment" and said the group had carried out a risk assessment that had been approved by independent researchers.
The boulders, weighing between two and three tonnes, are to be sunk in zones classified as Natura 2000 in the Lilla Middelgrund (179 square kilometres, 70 square miles) and Flauden (104 square kilometres, 40 square miles) areas.
Natura 2000 is a network of sites around the European Union covered by EU directives aimed at protecting wildlife and their habitats.
Both sites lie about 20 kilometres (15 miles) from Varberg port, off Sweden's southwest coast.
"We expect to spend one week here to finish the operation and once we have finish in Flauden, we will start in Lilla Middelgrund," Danielsson said.
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