12 May 2026
Photo by Paul Einerhand A Dutch court has ruled that bottom trawling in the Dogger Bank without permits is unlawful, in what is believed to be the first European judgment confirming that governments have a binding legal duty to regulate the impact of bottom trawling on offshore marine protected areas. The District Court of […]
28 Apr 2026
Photo by Roman Manshin A major new report has concluded that the UK’s whales, dolphins and porpoises are being let down by legal protections that exist on paper but not in practice, with the North Sea, one of the most important cetacean habitats in UK waters, identified as a particular area of concern. The […]
04 Nov 2025
Photo by David Clode The European Union has introduced new rules to protect the Dogger Bank, an emblematic Natura 2000 site in the waters of Germany and the Netherlands, with a ban on mobile bottom-contacting fishing gear in specific areas coming into effect on 18 November 2025. Protection measures and objectives Starting 18th November 2025, fishing […]
19 Nov 2024
Friends of the Earth Germany, Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) filed a lawsuit against the German government to end bottom trawling, which is taking place in the Dogger Bank European Marine Protected Area. BUND – a member of Brussels-based marine NGO Seas At Risk, which is supporting the lawsuit – had already lodged an […]
05 Dec 2023
RWE has signed an agreement with the UAE’s clean energy developer, known as Masdar, to develop a 3 gigawatt (GW) wind project off the east coast of England, capable of powering around 3 million homes. The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said the agreement included a commitment from the two companies to invest up to 11 […]
05 Sep 2023
Offshore construction has officially started at RWE’s 1.4 gigawatt (GW) Sofia Offshore Wind Farm, to install essential subsea cable infrastructure from the UK’s north east coast to the wind farm site on Dogger Bank, in the central North Sea. Cable contractor Prysmian’s high-tech Leonardo da Vinci vessel will lay the first section of high voltage direct current […]
20 Jun 2023
A Marine Management Organisation investigation using aerial surveillance, Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) records and analysis of e-log and sales note information resulted in the owner and master of a vessel admitting a total of seven charges at Plymouth magistrates. The court was told the vessel was spotted and photographed fishing for scallops in the closed […]
20 Dec 2022
The Dogger Bank marine protected area (MPA), has experienced a 98% decrease in bottom towed fishing since a ban was introduced, according to research by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). In June 2022, a byelaw came into force that banned damaging fishing activities from four English offshore MPAs. Between June and October (2015-2019), an average […]
