trawling Archives - Communications and Management for Sustainability

Exploring the viability of innovative technologies as an alternative to bottom trawling in MPAs

The European Parliamentary Research Service has released a comprehensive study titled “Exploring the viability of innovative fishing technologies as an alternative to bottom trawling in European marine protected areas.” Fisheries in Europe’s marine environment use different types of mobile and static fishing gears that come into contact with the seabed, including mobile bottom-contacting gears (MBCGs) […]

Sweden Announces Landmark Ban on Bottom Trawling

Marine , News

Sweden is set to become the second EU country, following Greece, to ban bottom fishing in marine protected areas (MPAs). Sweden has committed to go one step further by banning bottom trawling in all its territorial waters. At a press conference, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his ministers announced the government’s intention to implement this […]

Link shown between trawls and climate change in the North Sea

Marine , News

A new study by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon models the influence of bottom trawls on sedimentary carbon in the North Sea. The researchers state that fishing trawls cause significant CO2 emissions as they stir up the carbon bound in the seabed and release it again. They also believe it is clear that they drastically affect ecosystems […]

Scottish Minister addresses questions on the legality of sand eel fishing ban

Marine , News

Mairi Gougeon MSP, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform, and Islands, has written to Finlay Carson, the Chair of the Rural Affairs and Island Committee, to address the concerns regarding the sand eel fishing ban in Scotland and the challenge raised by the EU. The European Commission said that the ban […]

Isle of Man fishing closures cause concern in Northern Ireland

Marine , News

The decision by the Isle of Man government to close three fishing sites in its waters by banning bottom trawling has raised concerns across the Irish Sea. The closed areas are located within the Western Irish Sea Mud-belt, a vital habitat for various marine species, notably langoustines. Despite decades of extensive trawling, the area is […]

Bottom towed fishing gear prohibited over reef habitats in 13 marine protected areas

Marine , News

A new byelaw protecting an area of almost 4000 square km of seas from damaging fishing activity is now in force in English waters. The byelaw prohibits the use of bottom towed gear in specific areas within 13 English offshore MPAs that contain valuable reef and rocky habitats. The implementation of the byelaw comes days […]

10 vessels responsible for a quarter of suspected bottom trawling in UK offshore MPAs, says new report

Marine , News

The UK’s marine protected areas (MPAs) were exposed to over 33,000 hours of suspected bottom trawling in 2023, according to new analysis from Oceana UK. The environment group used analysis of satellite data from Global Fishing Watch to show that over 100,000 hours of apparent industrial fishing took place within the UK’s offshore MPAs in 2023 […]

Consultation on a review of trawling inside the six nautical mile zone

Marine , News

Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D, has launched a public consultation on fishing with trawls inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines and is seeking the public’s opinion on the matter. Minister McConalogue said: “Five years ago, in December 2018, a transition to a ban on vessels over […]