The European Commission announced on Thursday the closure of part of the Community waters of the North-East Atlantic to deep-sea trawling in order to protect the biodiversity of the seabed.
The ban concerns the activity of all vessels equipped with bottom gear (bottom trawls, dredges, bottom gillnets, bottom longlines, pots and traps) in an area of approximately 16,400 km2, below 400m deep.
The aim is to preserve “
87 sensitive areas
” off the coasts of Ireland, France, Portugal and Spain, covering a total of 1.16% of Community waters in the North-East Atlantic. , explained the European executive in a press release.
“
Our oceans and our fisheries depend on healthy marine ecosystems (...).
We are delivering on our commitment to protect and restore marine life
,” said Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius.
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The measure was developed after two years of consultation with Member States and stakeholders, including the fishing industry and NGOs.
It will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This closure complements the bottom trawling ban introduced by the EU in 2016 to help restore vulnerable marine ecosystems such as cold-water coral reefs, seamounts and deep-sea rifts.
"
It's a day of joy
," exclaimed Claire Nouvian, founder of the Bloom association, which campaigns for the protection of the oceans.
"
The remarkable ecosystems beyond 400 meters deep will finally be able to breathe and stop being crushed by huge industrial machines that pulverize thousand-year-old corals, century-old sponges and sharks, fragile eared octopuses and myriads of extraordinary species that have been the collateral victims for more than 30 years of the insatiable greed of industrial ships
,” she said in a statement.
