Mediterranean countries miss crucial opportunity to protect deep sea life from destructive fisheries
NGOs call on countries and the EU to act against the expansion of destructive deep-sea fishing in the Mediterranean
Press Release Date: November 10, 2025
Location: Málaga
Contact:
Emily Fairless | email: efairless@oceana.org | tel.: +32 478 038 490
Málaga, Spain – Mediterranean countries have missed a crucial opportunity to extend deep-sea protection from destructive fisheries at the annual meeting of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). Oceana and MedReAct regret this inaction, as GFCM regional pilot studies have demonstrated the ecological benefits of extending the current ban on bottom trawling below 1000 m depth, and the minimum costs for fishers. This setback also jeopardizes a prior 2023 GFCM commitment to expand deep-water protection in 2025.
The EU has been the driving force within the GFCM, supporting the launch of pilot studies to assess the impacts of extending the deep-sea trawl ban. The GFCM’s failure to act is at odds with international commitments – under the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the GFCM Mediterranean 2030 Strategy – to designate additional Fisheries Restricted Areas so as to protect fish populations and sensitive habitats, and to address the impacts of destructive fishing methods. Extending deep-sea protection would help recover overfished stocks, like deep-sea shrimps, protect vulnerable marine ecosystems, and enhance the climate resilience of the Mediterranean, as deep-sea habitats play a crucial role in storing carbon and regulating our climate.
Helena Álvarez, senior marine scientist at Oceana in Europe, said: “We urge the EU in particular to show leadership and to promote the expansion of the Mediterranean deep-sea trawl ban to at least 800 m depth in 2026. Protecting Mediterranean deep-sea habitats is central to international commitments and in line with the best available science. This is more relevant than ever with the recent adoption by the international community of a call for action on the deep sea, reaffirming the global urgency to safeguard these unique ecosystems.”
Domitilla Senni, executive director at MedReAct, said: “The state of the Mediterranean Sea is declining at an alarming rate. Yet countries continue to tolerate the impact of destructive fisheries on vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. The path to sustainable fisheries requires urgent and bold long-term measures delivering tangible benefits for marine species and ecosystems, and the transition to low-impact fisheries. Extending deep-sea protection will help recover fish populations and habitats, and will be a concrete step towards a better future for those communities that rely on a healthy sea for their livelihood.”
Recent pilot projects conducted under the GFCM in six countries – Egypt, France, Greece, Malta, Spain and Tunisia – have demonstrated that extending the deep-sea bottom trawling ban from 1000 m to 800 m would deliver significant benefits in terms of protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems, like corals and sponges, with limited or no costs for fisheries. Further, the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee concluded that extending the ban to this depth would contribute to fish stock recovery and the conservation of vulnerable species and habitats. These findings align with an analysis by Oceana that found minimal fishing activities occurring at these depths, whereas such a depth ban would protect an additional 100,000km2 of deep-sea area.
In October, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress (WCC) adopted two motions to protect deep-sea vulnerable marine ecosystems from destructive fishing. Failure to extend Mediterranean deep-sea protection risks undermining scientific progress towards protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems and would delay critical conservation measures.
As climate change drives marine species towards deeper waters, improved technology has progressively allowed fleets to also fish deeper. This trend is visible in the Mediterranean Sea, including by non-EU fishing fleets. Oceana and MedReact are therefore urging the EU and the GFCM to adopt a precautionary approach by extending deep-sea protection to preserve these crucial areas of rich sea life and the fishers who depend on them.
Notes to editors:
Deep-sea species and habitats are long-lived and slow to reproduce, making them very vulnerable to fishing impacts. Destructive fishing practices, like bottom trawling, can destroy them in a single pass. Other commercially important fish, like hake and blue and red shrimp, rely on deep-sea habitats as shelter and nursery areas.
