Seas At Risk, Oceana and Marine Conservation Society have released a report examining the prevalence of bottom trawling within Natura 2000 sites in marine protected waters in seven EU countries. Together with civil society organisations from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, the report found that:

• Destructive bottom trawling is still taking place in 90% of offshore EU MPAs.
• 4.4 million hours of apparent bottom trawling was allowed in MPAs between 2015-2023 – equivalent to more than 500 years’ worth of trawling.

Find a breakdown of all the data and explore the report’s full findings here.

Posted on: 16 April 2024

• Low impact fisheries
• Marine protected areas