In a new report published on Tuesday 15 September, the organisation Bloom criticises the “abyssal depth of Dutch fraud in electric fishing” (see EUROPE 12552/10).
The number of Dutch vessels equipped with electric trawls would, according to the organisation, be much higher than the number of derogations officially granted by the Netherlands (95 vessels, compared to 84 derogating licences).
The NGO says that it has evidence that Germany also fishes in this way and that some Dutch vessels fish in closed areas.
Bloom is demanding sanctions against the Netherlands and calls on France and Belgium to take the illegal practice of electric fishing to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The Community Regulation on technical measures, which has been in force since 14 August 2019, prohibits the granting of new derogations from that date until the final removal of the remaining derogations by the end of June 2021 at the latest.
On 20 July, Bloom had filed a complaint against Germany with the European Commission, “a complaint which has not yet been answered”, according to the organisation (see EUROPE 12532/25).
Link to Bloom's report in French: https://bit.ly/3hy7INJ (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)