Published: February 22nd, 2023,
Last updated: May 8th, 2025
On Tuesday, the European Commission unveiled an action plan to phase out bottom trawling in marine protected areas by 2030. The flagship measure is one of several documents in which the agency sets out the EU’s ambitions for marine environmental protection, decarbonization of the fisheries sector, and sustainable fisheries management.
The ban on bottom trawling is part of an action plan to „protect and restore marine ecosystems“ that had been expected for more than a year. The action plan was originally scheduled for 2021. However, it was postponed several times after a public consultation highlighted strong opposition by the fishing industry.