01/10/2024 (Agence Europe) – The NGOs Bloom and ClientEarth said on Monday 30 September that they were taking their case to the Administrative Court in Paris to obtain a ban on trawling in Mediterranean marine protected areas (MPAs), in accordance with European law. France has never complied with the 2006 regulation, which prohibits bottom trawling in protected areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Vulnerable ecosystems such as seagrass meadows, coralligenous habitats and maerl beds are found in these areas, according to the NGOs. “With this legal action, we want to put an end to ‘paper’ marine protected areas”,said Nils Courcy, a lawyer with ClientEarth. Bloom and ClientEarth had already lodged an informal appeal in May to ask France to comply with European law. (FS)