A group of environmental organizations, led by ClientEarth, are stepping up legal challenges against national European governments for failing to address industrial fishing in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These groups claim that existing nature protection laws are undermined by governments’ failure to enforce them, leaving marine ecosystems at risk.
MPAs are protected by the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive. But ClientEarth and their partners say that countries are slow to outline concrete plans to fairly regulate a fishing technique known as bottom trawling within them.
The practice involves the towing of large, cone-shaped nets, which often make contact with the seabed to catch marine species that live on or near the seafloor. These habitats, according to Client Earth, play crucial roles in ecosystems and climate. Seagrass, for example, acts as a major carbon sink, while coral reefs and algae beds support key species at the base of marine food chains.
The organizations’ legal actions target several EU member states including the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. They argue that bottom trawling in MPAs contradicts the intent of EU environmental law by threatening the seabed habitats and species the areas were meant to protect.
“We need to see actual enforcement of the laws, so that ‘protected’ means protected in the water,” John Condon, an ocean lawyer at ClientEarth, tells Food Tank.
According to Condon, the problem isn’t a lack of environmental laws—it’s the fact that they’re rarely enforced. “There are a plethora of rules that should already be protecting nature,” he says, “but leaders are not switching them on at the plug.”
ClientEarth seeks to clarify and enforce existing EU laws, particularly Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, which requires Member States to establish conservation measures and management plans for protected sites. It also requires them to ensure that any potentially harmful projects undergo strict assessment to prevent habitat deterioration and species disturbance.
Condon argues that proper enforcement won’t only benefit ecosystems, it can also serve human interests. “If you put the power behind enforcement,” he explains, “you protect nature – and in doing so, you protect fishers, you protect industry, you protect our food, you protect the climate.”
But Daniel Voces de Onaíndi, Secretary of the Bottom Trawlers Fishing Association (EBFA), says the issue is more complex. “For years, NGOs have led campaigns claiming that achieving certain environmental targets … would lead to increased catches, businesses and employment,” he tells Food Tank.
Instead of delivering economic growth, Voces de Onaíndi argues, increasing regulations have coincided with a steady decline in the EU fishing fleet. By early 2025, the EU fleet had shrunk to 69,570 vessels— down 14 percent since 2013, according to the EU Commission.
Voces de Onaíndi warns that persistent pressure against bottom trawling and tightening rules “continue to damage the sector’s image and future,” putting the livelihoods of many coastal communities at risk.
A recent petition signed by over 250,000 European citizens calls on the EU to ban bottom trawling in MPAs, demanding full enforcement of existing laws and greater protection for vulnerable marine ecosystems. And at the recent U.N. Ocean Conference, the United Kingdom proposed a ban to bottom trawling in English MPAs. France also pledged to strongly protect 4 percent of the practice by banning the practice in the country.
Condon attributes part of this momentum to the release of Ocean, the David Attenborough-narrated documentary film that spotlighted bottom trawling’s destructive impact. And while he welcomes the progress, he stresses that the latest commitments fall far short if the world is to achieve the international target set by the UN Environmental Program’s Global Biodiversity Framework to protect 30 percent of the Earth’s waters by 2030. Condon wants to see the legal actions ClientEarth is pursuing lead to clearer enforcement of existing laws and set strong precedents for protecting marine ecosystems and European fishing communities.
As environmental advocates push for stricter rules, Voces de Onaíndi is advocating for more fishers to be included in the process. He argues that fishers are not opposed to protecting sensitive marine ecosystems, but they question the practicality and fairness of some policies. What they object to, he explains, is the way some MPAs are implemented without sufficient consultation or scientific grounding.
“When MPAs are designated without a clear understanding of local fishing patterns or without considering their socio-economic impact, fishers see them as imposed restrictions rather than collaborative conservation tools,” Voces de Onaíndi tells Food Tank. Building trust, he argues, requires transparent planning and early involvement, emphasizing that “fishers want to be part of the solution, but they need to be treated as partners—not obstacles—in marine protection.”
Both Condon and Voces de Onaíndi view the EU Ocean Pact, a new initiative uniting European ocean policies under one collaborative framework, as a potential roadmap for action. They say that stronger implementation—and enforcement—of existing laws can help monitor marine ecosystems, supporting the resilience of food systems and coastal livelihoods.
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Photo courtesy of Paul Einerhand, Unsplash
