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 objection to bottom trawling on the Dogger Bank in January 2024; after nine months, the German government has now rejected the objection.
Olaf Bandt, BUND Chairman, said:
“With today’s legal action, we want to fundamentally strengthen European nature conservation law. As long as destructive fishing with bottom trawling is permitted in valuable marine protected areas like the Dogger Bank, there is no effective marine protection.”
Weichkoralle Tote Seemannshand (Alcyonium digitatum) auf Felsgrund im Trondheim-Fjord
Dead Man’s Fingers (coral alcyonium). Photo: WWF EU/Wolf Wichmann
Marine Protected Areas are essential to stop the decline of marine species, and EU Member States have been obliged to conserve them since the introduction of the EU Habitats Directive in 1992. The directive creates a network of protected areas, known as Natura 2000 sites, which Member States must manage effectively to achieve specific conservation objectives and protect Europe’s precious biodiversity.
A recent study of seven EU Member States, which was co-authored by Seas At Risk and Oceana, with contributions from BUND, found that bottom trawling still takes place in 90 percent of the EU’s offshore protected areas in investigated countries. This amounts to more than 730,000 hours of bottom towed fishing in German marine Natura 2000 sites between 2015 and 2023. Public opinion strongly opposes allowing this harmful fishing practice, with 82 percent of German citizens supporting stricter regulations on bottom trawling.
Legal representative Dr. Anna von Rebay, Ocean Vision Legal, said:
“At the beginning of this year, we filed an objection against Germany’s annual fishing authorisation, which unlawfully permits bottom trawling in the Dogger Bank Marine Protected Area. The German government issued this license without conducting the mandatory impact assessment required by EU nature conservation law to ensure compatibility with the conservation objectives of the Dogger Bank, prior to issuing the authorisation. By challenging Germany’s ongoing refusal to conduct such impact assessments for fisheries, this lawsuit seeks to reinforce the implementation of European nature conservation law and establish a precedent for all EU Member States.”
Tatiana Nuño, Senior Marine Policy Officer at Seas At Risk, said:
“It is a problem we see systematically in EU Member States: Marine Protected Areas lack effective management plans to ensure their protection. The European Commission has called on Member States to ban bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas, but we are not seeing the necessary action. Lawsuits like these will become increasingly common from civil society to make sure that, when it comes to Europe’s precious marine heritage, protected means protected.”
This litigation is part of a pan-European project to deliver real protection and effective management of EU Marine Protected Areas, co-led by Seas At Risk and Oceana, with legal support from ClientEarth, and legal representation in Germany by Ocean Vision Legal.