Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.Demonstrations, blocked ports… The Commission’s idea of banning trawling in all marine protected areas has triggered the “dead ports” protest movement of fishermen in France. Even though the Commission’s proposals are not new legislation – and their implementation does not come soon enough for some environmental NGOs – there has been strong opposition to this in some member states. Out of fear the ban would put the entire industry at risk, there were outcries from Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Denmark as well.
The Commission’s Marine Action Plan for sustainable fishing, announced on 21 February, includes initiatives for a phasing out of bottom trawling in protected marine areas. The measure aims to protect fish, shellfish, turtles and seabirds threatened by the use of mobile bottom trawling gear (trawls, dredges, longlines, traps) in areas that will cover up to 30 percent of European waters by 2030. The target is non-binding.
The Commission states that fishing using certain mobile bottom-contact gear (mobile bottom fishing), in particular bottom trawling, is one of the most widespread and damaging activities to the seabed and its associated habitats. Currently, 79 percent of the coastal seabed is considered to be physically disturbed, mainly caused by bottom trawling, and a quarter of the EU’s coastal area has probably lost its seabed habitats.
Spain, Italy and Germany accuse Brussels of “demonising” and “simplifying” the impact of trawling
The government in Spain recently accused Brussels of “demonising” trawling, arguing that trawling produces a sustainable yield and facilitates the recovery of fish stocks. The Spanish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas, defended the need to find a balance between environmental, economic and social factors for the next common Fisheries Policy. Spain’s disagreements with Brussels over the ban of trawling are not new. In 2022, the government appealed to the European Court of Justice against a Commission regulation, already in force, which imposed the closure of 87 trawl fishing grounds on the Atlantic coast.
The Italian Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, called at the AGRIFISH Council on 20 March for “a revision of the Action Plan”, claiming that attributing bottom trawling “the exclusive responsibility for the depletion of the seabed and fish resources is a simplification.” The revision of the plan should be carried out “in coordination with the Member States and the industry,” he added.
Lollobrigida emphasized the importance “not to penalize our fishing vessels with strict rules that cannot be applied to third countries,” meaning Southern Mediterranean countries. “It is necessary to guarantee food security and sovereignty without ideological views that require a castrating attitude for our businesses compared to other nations in the same fishing water basins,” he added.
In the dispute over the EU plans, German Minister for Agriculture and Food Cem Özdemir is backing crab fishermen in Germany. “Scientific findings show that crab fishing is gentler on the seabed than other forms of bottom trawling,” the German Green politician said.
Özdemir is campaigning against a general ban, saying that the environmental impacts of the different fisheries had to be considered in a differentiated way. This is because the comparatively light nets used by crab fishermen would be deployed on finer substrates, so that the seabed and the species found there would recover more quickly than in the case of flatfish fisheries, for example. “Blanket bans lead to a dead end from which the affected crab fishermen cannot escape,” he said. However, Özdemir also stressed that the efforts for sustainable fishing would have to be intensified, including more environmentally friendly rules for bottom trawls.
Would a ban put the fishing industry at risk?
The European Bottom Fisheries Alliance (EBFA) estimated that the ban would put “7,000 vessels at risk,” i. e. “25 percent of the (fishing) volumes landed and 38 percent of the total income of the European fleet.”
According to the French National Fisheries Committee, such a measure would lead to the disappearance of nearly “a third of the fleet,” i. e. 4,000 fishermen on board 1,200 vessels in France.
In Spain, 10 percent of vessels use trawling. The sector, led by the employers’ association CEPESCA, has warned of the impact on the economy and employment that the Brussels ban would have.
Restrictive fishing regulations have already plunged German Baltic Sea fisheries into crisis. The planned EU-wide ban would further increase the pressure on German fisheries, which have had to struggle with numerous problems in recent years. For example, catching herring, which is particularly important for Baltic Sea fishermen and is almost completely banned. Overfishing, nutrients being swept into waterways, especially from agriculture, and climate change are taking their toll on fish stocks.
Croatia, on the other hand, launched a call to fishermen to participate in an initiative for the permanent cessation of fishing activities by destroying the fishing vessels or converting them to activities outside of commercial fishing. The measure is financed by the European Union, which covers 70 percent of the costs, the remaining 30 percent is borne by Croatia.
A watered-down plan?
The first measures should be in place by the end of March 2024. When asked, the Commission emphasized: “There is no automatic or complete ban on bottom trawling that would come into force in March 2024.” The action plan for sustainable fisheries presented by the Commission “only proposes guidelines to the Member States,” said the French Secretary of State for the Sea Hervé Berville.
“We will ask member states to give us a roadmap by 2024, we believe they are all aware of the need to make progress on sustainable fishing and the protection of ecosystems, especially in the Mediterranean,” the Commission said, stressing that
“many fishermen depend on an intact seabed, but unfortunately this continues to deteriorate throughout Europe.”
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