NGOs join forces to demand a ban on destructive fishing in protected areas, and reveal bottom trawling’s economic toll
Press Release Date: March 25, 2025
Location: Paris
Contact:
Natividad Sánchez | email: nsanchez@oceana.org | tel.: +34 687 598 529
25 March 2025, Paris – Leading ocean organizations – including BLOOM, Oceana, EarthEcho International, Rise Up, Seas at Risk and The Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition – are taking part in a Week of Ocean Action (24-30 March) to demand an immediate ban on destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling in Europe’s marine protected areas (MPAs).
This coincides with the release of two major new studies, both released today, that show the unacceptable impacts of bottom trawling and demonstrate the feasibility of a transition away from trawling. The study by National Geographic Pristine Seas shows that bottom trawling results in a net cost to European society of up to €11 billion every year. The study by BLOOM and French researchers from L’Institut Agro and the French Natural History Museum shows that trawling has the worst social-ecological footprint of all fishing methods: the passage of French bottom trawlers impacts 670,000 km2 of seabed each year, a surface larger than France itself.
The Week of Ocean Action, coordinated by Oceana, Only One, National Geographic Pristine Seas and Together for the Ocean, builds on a 200,000-strong public petition and brings together a broad coalition of NGOs for a series of events and initiatives designed to build momentum ahead of the SOS Ocean Summit in Paris (30-31 March). By uniting advocacy efforts, the campaign will push for major commitments on marine protection ahead of the landmark UN Ocean Conference taking place in Nice this June. A coordinated citizen action will call on EU countries and the UK to take urgent steps to ban bottom trawling in MPAs.
Alexandra Cousteau, ocean advocate, President and Co-Founder of Oceans 2050, and Senior Advisor to Oceana, said: “With the UN Ocean Conference fast approaching, world leaders have an important choice to make: uphold their commitments to protect our ocean or allow the continued destruction of our marine protected areas. To me, and everyone that cares about our blue planet, the choice is clear. Our leaders in the UK, France and across the rest of Europe must act now to ban bottom trawling in MPAs to help secure a thriving, resilient ocean for future generations.”
Vera Coelho, Deputy Vice President at Oceana in Europe, added: “The science is clear – repeatedly bulldozing marine habitats is incompatible with their protection. If governments are serious about protecting 30% of the ocean and safeguarding the livelihoods of traditional fishers, they need to commit to phasing out bottom trawling in marine protected areas as a matter of urgency. Anything short of decisive action will expose Europe’s lack of commitment to globally agreed targets at the United Nations Ocean Conference.”
New research: The true cost of bottom trawling
A major new study from Pristine Seas, released today, exposes that taxpayers are funding the destruction of marine protected areas through massive subsidies, resulting in a net cost to European society of up to €11 billion every year. Shockingly, 60% of European MPAs are still trawled, making these “protected” areas vulnerable to the very destructive practices they are meant to safeguard against.
Dr. Enric Sala, National Geographic Pristine Seas, stated: “Bottom trawling is both an ecological and economic catastrophe. It contributes only 2% of Europe’s animal protein supply, yet exacts a devastating toll on biodiversity. The science and the economics are clear: Banning bottom trawling in all marine protected areas is an essential first step in restoring European seas. It’s an obvious choice — one that can help replenish Europe’s overfished seas, mitigate global warming and support a transition to more sustainable fishing practices that benefit small-scale fishers. Europe must lead the charge in ocean protection and make this change now.”
The study finds that redirecting a fraction of the current harmful government subsidies would be enough to finance a just transition for affected fishing communities. Governments such as Greece and Sweden have already committed to banning bottom trawling in MPAs – momentum that NGOs are urging other European leaders to build upon.
In further analysis, released to mark the first anniversary of EU countries’ deadline to submit Marine Action Plan roadmaps, NGOs Oceana, Seas At Risk and ClientEarth have revealed that multiple EU member states are failing to safeguard their MPAs from destructive fishing practices. The findings highlight that not a single EU country has established comprehensive plans to phase out bottom trawling from MPAs by 2030, despite EU nature laws and international biodiversity commitments that legally bind EU Member States to implement rigorous protection measures for these marine areas.
Dr Monica Verbeek, Executive Director of Seas At Risk, said: “Science calls out bottom trawling as a threat to marine biodiversity and planetary health, yet Member States continue to allow the destruction in areas they state they protect. The EU’s ‘benefit of the doubt’ approach to EU fisheries has to end – our latest analysis of the dismal progress made one year on from the EU Marine Action Plan deadline shows the political will to fish responsibly and improve the wellbeing of coastal communities is slim to none. Top of the EU’s to-do list must be a commitment by Commissioner Kadis to introduce an EU Oceans Pact that prioritises a just transition to low-impact fisheries and new binding rules to phase out bottom trawling in EU seas.”
New research: Breaking free from trawling
In addition, during the Week of Ocean Action, BLOOM is publishing a new report, “Breaking Free from Trawling”. This report is the first to show how trawling has become an integral part of the French fishing industry, with no regard for the environment or economic and social rationality.
It incorporates unique work by French researchers at the Institut Agro (Didier Gascuel, Florian Quemper and Romain Mouillard) and the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Harold Levrel), revealing the disastrous social-ecological footprint of trawling, particularly bottom trawling. The researchers have also laid the foundations for a transition in the sector by demonstrating that bottom trawling is not inevitable: 85% of the volumes fished by bottom trawlers in France could be fished with less harmful fishing methods.
Claire Nouvian, director of BLOOM, stated: “Trawling is a technique of massive destruction for the ecosystems, even though they are vital in the fight against climate change and for the future of small-scale fishing. We must now free ourselves from trawling, whether bottom or pelagic, for the sake of living organisms and future generations. Emergency is here, time is running out and we have now a window to act: France is hosting UNOC in a few months and Macron is organising an SOS Ocean summit in a few days. France must make the transition now and implement real marine protected areas without industrial fishing.”
United call for action
As part of the Week of Ocean Action, participating NGOs will be hosting a series of briefings and activations, including:
- 20 March, 09:00 EDT / 13:00 GMT: Online press conference unveiling NGO policy ask and embargoed National Geographic Pristine Seas research findings.
- 25 March, 9:30AM to 12:30PM CET: In-person press briefing at Le Consulat Voltaire (14 Avenue Parmentier, 75011) in Paris for French and international media, featuring the official release of the new National Geographic Pristine Seas study (00:01 GMT), the launch of BLOOM’s scientific report Breaking Free from Trawling, which analyzes the social-ecological performance of French fishing fleets, and the release of a new analysis by Oceana, Seas At Risk, and ClientEarth on EU countries’ plans to phase out bottom trawling from MPAs by 2030.
- NGOs will also be organizing stunts across Paris throughout the week.
This coordinated effort aims to keep bottom trawling bans a top priority on the political agenda at SOS Ocean, as well as at UNOC later this year. Following the first two conferences which were held in New York (2017) and Lisbon (2022), France and Costa Rica are jointly organizing the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, from 9 to 13 June 2025.
For more information on the Week of Ocean Action and to join the campaign and citizen action for national-level policymakers, visit here.
ENDS
