09/03/2023 (Agence Europe) – France is firmly opposed to the implementation of a ban on bottom fishing gear in marine protected areas, said the Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, on Wednesday 8 March. On the same day, the Spanish Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas, also protested against the bottom trawl ban and said that trawling, which is practised by 805 vessels in Spain, i.e. 10% of the national fleet, should not be “demonised”. EU Fisheries Ministers will debate, on 20 March in Brussels, the package of documents presented on 21 February by the European Commission on ‘sustainable fisheries’ (see EUROPE 13126/1). The Commission encourages EU Member States to phase out mobile bottom fishing in all marine protected areas by 2030 at the latest. (LC)