Mediterranean countries drag their feet about extending deep-sea trawl ban, despite clear scientific evidence in its favour
Press Release Date: June 30, 2025
Location: Rome
Contact:
Emily Fairless | email: efairless@oceana.org | tel.: +32 478 038 490
Rome – The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) has recognised the minimal socio-economic impact that extending the Mediterranean trawl ban from 1000 to 800 metres would have on the deep-sea fishing sector, but has failed to issue clear supporting advice in favour of such a ban. This took place during a meeting of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) in Rome last week, after Mediterranean countries presented the results of pilot projects carried out in 2024.
Nicolas Fournier, Campaign director for marine protection at Oceana in Europe, said: “Oceana regrets that the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee has failed to recommend an extension of the current bottom trawling ban in the Mediterranean Sea to below 800 metres depth, given the solid socio-economic evidence that trawling activity there is negligible. GFCM pilot projects conducted by official national authorities confirmed that trawling activity below 800m depth accounts for less than 2% of the landing value in countries like Egypt, and less than 1% in Spain and Greece. There are also important benefits of such a ban for vulnerable deep-sea habitats and overexploited species. We urge the European Commission to show leadership and make an ambitious proposal to protect the Mediterranean deep-sea at the annual meeting in November in Málaga.”
During the SAC meeting, pilot studies conducted by national scientific bodies in six countries [1] demonstrated that extending the current fishing limit from 1,000 to 800 meters would have limited or no socio-economic impact on the fleet – in line with previous studies conducted by Oceana, showing the minimal fishing activities occurring at these depths. The area between 800 and 1,000 metres covers approximately 100,000 km² in the Mediterranean, and its protection would represent a key step in the conservation of marine biodiversity, the protection of vulnerable ecosystems, and the recovery of species that are currently overexploited in some regions.
France, Italy and Spain established individual bans on bottom trawling at depths below 800 meters in some of their Mediterranean waters to benefit from a temporary increase in fishing days for their fleets, although Spain withdrew its ban shortly afterwards.
The European Commission, who recently announced a future Ocean Act by 2027, now has the opportunity to set an example by proposing to the GFCM to extend the deep-sea ban to all Mediteranean waters as a historic measure to restore healthy and resilient ocean ecosystems.
The next session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) will take place in November in Málaga, at which time the GFCM could decide to adopt a decision on this measure.
Note to editors:
[1] Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Spain and Tunisia
