On Wednesday 22 January, a number of NGOs, including Seas At Risk, Oceana and ClientEarth, welcomed the proposed amendment to Swedish legislation that paves the way for a future ban on bottom trawling in Swedish marine protected areas.
The NGOs “urge other EU governments to follow the Swedish initiative and deliver effective marine conservation”, according to the organisations concerned.
Bottom trawling is a fishing method which, according to these NGOs, “devastates marine ecosystems and releases carbon stored in the seabed into the water”.
By banning bottom trawling in protected areas, vast zones rich in biodiversity will benefit from much stronger protection, to the benefit of fishers, coastal communities and the climate, according to the organisations.
Tatiana Nuño, from Seas At Risk, noted that just a few months after Greece made a similar commitment, “we are witnessing the emergence of a hopeful trend toward real, meaningful protection for our oceans”. Other EU countries are lagging behind, she said (see EUROPE 13555/5), by allowing “destructive practices to continue unchecked in their protected areas. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)