EU slammed for failing to protect marine life from 'destructive' fishing

EU waters are in 'dismal' condition, with only a third of surveyed fish populations in the northeast Atlantic considered to be in good condition, according to more than 200 scientists and environmentalists.

The analysis, published on Monday, follows a scathing report by the European Court of Auditors two years ago, which warned that the EU had failed succeeded in halting the loss of marine biodiversity in European waters and in restoring fishing to sustainable levels.

The EU has left 99% of continental waters unprotected from "high-impact activities", including bottom trawling and industrial-scale mining, scientists say, with only 1% set up as "true" marine protected areas (MPAs). In 2017, only 10.8% of the surface of European seas had been designated as MPAs.

In a statement – ​​issued ahead of a meeting in Brussels next week when countries will agree common positions on the Cop15 global biodiversity conference in December - they have urged member states to 'raise the bar' on ocean conservation away from the 'disastrous status quo' .

Scientists and conservationists, including Alexandra Cousteau, president of the Oceans 2050 foundation and granddaughter of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, and Enric Sala, Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, urged Member States to ban bottom trawling and industrial fishing in all EU MPAs.

"At this bottom trawling is practiced in 59% of so-called 'MPAs' in the EU, ironically depleting vulnerable species. within their borders even faster than in neighboring unprotected areas," the statement said. “As things stand, EU MPAs do not provide conservation benefits. the statement said. It also disrupts carbon stored on the seabed, increasing emissions and exacerbating global warming.

A 2018 research found that trawling intensity was higher and the abundance of marine life lower in many EU MPAs than in nearby unprotected areas.

Last year, a study by Sala and d others said fishing boats trawling the ocean floor were releasing as much carbon dioxide as the entire aviation industry.

Scientists said that a transition to 'low impact fishing' and the protection of 30% of EU waters by 2030 - 10% of which as 'strictly prohibited areas', a mandate c part of the EU's biodiversity strategy – would help restore marine life. It would also help rebuild depleted fisheries and "resurrect depleted small-scale coastal fisheries" and the livelihoods they support.

The Cop15 Biodiversity Summit will take place in Montreal, Canada, in December.