The prohibition concerns the activity of all ships equipped with substantive devices in an area of approximately 16,400 square kilometers below 400 meters deep, to preserve “87 sensitive zones”.
Le Monde with AFP
The European Commission announced Thursday, September 15, the closure of part of the Northeast Atlantic Water Community Water to Chaluing Deep Water in order to protect the biodiversity of seabed, an announcement welcomed by non-governmental organizations ( NGO) environmental but criticized by fishermen.
The prohibition concerns the activity of all ships equipped with background devices (background chalts, dredges, melting nets, background palangers, lockers and traps) in an area of approximately 16,400 square kilometers , below 400 meters deep.
It is a question of preserving “87 sensitive zones” off the coast of Ireland, France, Portugal and Spain, covering a total of 1.16 % of the North Atlantic Water -Sest, explained the European executive in a press release.
“Our oceans and our fisheries depend on healthy marine ecosystems,” said the commissioner in charge of the environment, oceans and fishing, Virginijus Sinkevicius, before continuing: “We keep our commitment to protect and to restore marine life. “
” Day of joy “
The measure was developed after two years of consultations with the member states and the actors concerned, in particular the fishing sector and NGOs. It will come into force twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This closure completes the prohibition of background trawling below 800 meters introduced by the European Union in 2016 to help restore vulnerable marine ecosystems such as coral reefs of cold waters, submarine mountains and Deep water faults.
“It is a day of joy”, exclaimed Claire Nouvian, founder of the Bloom association which militates for the protection of the oceans. “Remarkable ecosystems beyond 400 meters deep will finally be able to breathe and stop being grinded by huge industrial devices that spray millennial corals, sponges and centenary sharks, fragile ears and myriads of myriads Extraordinary species which have been the collateral victims for more than thirty years of the insatiable greed of industrial ships, “she said in a press release.
lack of impact study
The European Alliance for Fonde Fishing (EBFA), which represents 20,000 fishermen from fourteen European countries, on the contrary denounced “sloppy legislation”, in a declaration transmitted to the France-Presse agency.
“We totally agree with the objective displayed by the European Commission to preserve certain sensitive areas,” said EFBA president Ivan Lopez. This Spanish official, however, denounced the lack of impact study “to assess the consequences of this measure for many fishermen’s families and more broadly on local communities that depend on this activity”.
believing that the Commission had not respected European regulations, he warned that the EBFA would examine “all the legal actions at [its] provision”.