On Monday 11 May, the District Court of The Hague ruled that Dutch bottom trawlers are no longer allowed to fish without a permit and environmental assessment in the Dutch Dogger Bank, a vast area in the Natura 2000 network located in the North Sea and considered to be the largest nature reserve in the Netherlands.
In its decision, the District Court of The Hague ruled that the general exemption granted to date by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature was contrary the Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43/EEC).
According to the environmental organisations behind the appeal (Doggerland Foundation, ARK Rewilding Nederland, ClientEarth and Blue Marine Foundation), bottom trawling has seriously damaged the ecosystems of the Dogger Bank, in particular the populations of sharks, rays, shellfish, coral and anemones.
The associations are hailing this as a “historic” decision, the first in Europe to explicitly recognise the obligation of governments to regulate the impact of bottom trawling in marine protected areas.
The NGOs are now calling on the European Commission to initiate proceedings against Member States that still allow this practice in protected areas, and to include in future legislation on the oceans a legally binding deadline for ending bottom trawling in marine protected areas (see EUROPE 13864/3).
The UK had already banned bottom trawling in its part of the Dogger Bank in 2022. Similar proceedings are also underway in Germany. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)