On Thursday 9 January, the environmental NGOs ClientEarth, Doggerland Foundation, Blue Marine Foundation and ARK Rewilding announced their decision to take legal action (before a national court) against the Dutch government, on the grounds that the country has authorised fishermen to carry out bottom trawling in the Dogger Bank, “in violation of EU conservation law”, according to the organisations.
Despite its highly degraded state, the Dogger Bank is often regarded as the ecological heart of the North Sea. It stretches across British, Dutch, German and Danish waters. This emblematic area is home to endangered, threatened and protected species, argue the NGOs, who are once again criticising the effects of bottom trawling (its destructive environmental impact on marine habitats). This practice “causes habitat destruction and is a disaster for the ocean’s crucial role in storing carbon”, write the NGOs concerned.
They state that the UK government has “already recognised the legal and ecological need to protect the Dogger Bank” by banning fishing in UK waters (in this area) with bottom-towed gear. “On the other hand, EU countries are blatantly lagging behind and have refused to agree” similar measures, the NGOs regret.
Last year, ClientEarth and BLOOM took France to court for authorising bottom trawling in marine protected areas in the Mediterranean (see EUROPE 13418/22, 13494/32). ClientEarth and Oceana, supported by Seas At Risk, have also taken Spain to court over bottom trawling activities in protected areas of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Report from the European Commission. In addition, on 9 January the European Commission adopted a working document (https://aeur.eu/f/ezp ) assessing the effectiveness of Regulation 734/2008 in protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems in the high seas from the adverse impacts of bottom fishing gears.
The regulation “has brought a positive impact in the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems, and yields benefits in terms of creating a general regulatory framework for fisheries management and reducing legal and policy uncertainty to the extent possible”, according to the Commission. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)