Elements with tag bottom trawl
The anti-pulse lobby peaked this week in Brussels with their misleading campaign in light of the crucial vote on a new regulation for the conservation of fishery resources that will take place on 16 January 2018. The European fishing industry believes that this is the umpteenth attempt to demonize an innovative fishing method. Radical NGOs are trying to sabotage the difficult compromise[1] reached in the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament back in November that represented a democratic, reasonable and sustainable solution. Europêche urges the European Parliament Plenary to respect this compromise in order to allow innovation and the development of new sustainable fishing techniques which is the sole way the sector can adapt to new legislative scenarios such as the landing obligation.
Members of Europêche today met with the Director General of DG MARE, Joao Aguiar Machado to express their concerns over the current negotiations regarding possible restrictions on bottom trawling in the deep sea which could see a ban from 800m introduced, even for already regulated areas in international waters.
- Bottom contacting gears contribute to guarantee European food security and sovereignty; - Area closures to fishing should be done on case-by-case basis based on the best available scientific advice, not through a parody of political debate driven by NGOs and activists; - Bottom trawling is being banned from Marine Protected Areas to give way to industrial activities more environmentally intensive.