Europeche condemns slanderous campaign against trawling by activist NGO
Europêche has strongly denounced the list of vessels published by the activist NGO Bloom and the subsequent calls for supermarkets to boycott fish caught by the listed trawlers.
"The list is based on flawed and misleading information, misrepresenting the European fishing industry and the actual purpose of marine protected areas (MPAs)," said Europêche.
"It is important to remember that there are a multitude of categories of MPAs (more than 11 in France), which meet specific and different objectives, ranging from protecting seabed habitats, protecting cetaceans or protecting bird species, etc.
"Not all MPAs pursue the goal to suppress all human activities, as Bloom falsely claims; only a few MPAs are indeed defined as no-take zones. The regulation must therefore mirror this reality."
Europêche said the industry is more than open to regulation of economic activities in MPAs but called for a science-based decision-making process and a selective and specific approach rather than global one as some NGOs are demanding.
This case-by-case approach for MPAs is mandated by EU environmental legislation such as Natura2000 and underlined by both the European Commissioner for Oceans and Fisheries, Costas Kadis, and the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Biodiversity, Forestry, Sea and Fisheries, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
"The methodology used by the NGO is both structurally inaccurate and unreliable," added Europêche. "As such, the report is riddled with errors, falsely accusing vessels of illegally fishing in marine protected areas (MPAs), thus demonstrating Bloom’s lack of knowledge and serious scientific work on the matter."
The most striking inaccuracies by Bloom include the use of AIS data to identify "trawling activity", when this data only identifies the location of a vessel, not its activity; and the use of the speed of the boats navigating in MPAs as evidence of fishing activities, when numerous MPAs have speed limits in place for safety and security reasons.
Finally, Bloom accuses several boats of illegal fishing in a number of MPAs with no fishing restrictions, and the list includes non-fishing vessels, such as a Belgian research ship.
"Europêche remains committed to open dialogue and urges policymakers to base decisions on scientific evidence and sustainable management principles, rather than misleading activist campaigns," the organisation added.
“We are not surprised to see that Bloom’s report is riddled with inaccuracies, it has become a habit for them. As always, Europêche will continue its relentless fight against inaccuracies and destabilization attempts of the industry by radical activists through a scientific, open and transparent approach.”
