In a landmark ruling that will carry with it implications across Europe, a Dutch court has confirmed that governments have a legal responsibility to regulate the impact of bottom trawling on offshore marine protected areas and that blanket exemptions will no longer stand.

The District Court of The Hague has ruled that Dutch bottom trawlers can no longer fish without a permit and full environmental assessment in the Dutch Dogger Bank – the Netherlands’ largest protected nature area and one of the most ecologically significant stretches of seafloor in the North Sea. 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature had previously allowed destructive trawl fishing in the Natura 2000 protected area without permits. The court found that blanket exemption to be contrary to nature protection legislation.

It is the first known ruling in Europe in which a court has confirmed that governments bear a legal responsibility to regulate bottom trawling’s impact on offshore marine protected areas. Its consequences are expected to reach well beyond the Netherlands.

The case was brought before the court by four environmental organisations: Doggerland Foundation, ARK Rewilding Nederland, ClientEarth and Blue Marine Foundation. Together, they are now calling on European and UK governments to acknowledge the ruling, accept that their fishing fleets are subject to permit obligations and appropriate assessment requirements, and move to close all Natura 2000 marine protected areas to destructive bottom trawling.

The Dogger Bank sits at the heart of the North Sea, a shallow, biodiverse sandbank that has long been described as the nursery of the North Sea. It supports a range of marine life, including sharks, rays, long-lived shellfish, sea pens, anemones and corals, and plays a critical role in the wider health of the region’s ecosystem. 

Bottom trawling, which involves dragging large weighted nets across the seabed to catch species such as cod, hake, shrimp and octopus, has caused severe and well-documented damage to that habitat, destroying vast swathes of life and disrupting the seabed’s capacity to store carbon. 

Despite this, Dutch fishing vessels have operated within the protected zone without the environmental scrutiny the court has now confirmed is legally required.

“This is fantastic news for the North Sea,” said Emilie Reuchlin, director of Doggerland. “Bottom trawling poses a huge threat to the Dogger Bank because it destroys life in and on the seabed. This ruling puts the burden of proof back in place with the Dutch Government: they are legally bound to subject Dutch fisheries to a permit obligation.”

To receive a permit, an appropriate assessment must prove that fishing activities will not harm marine life within the marine protected area. The ruling means that, after 20 years of campaigning for a ban on trawl fishing, clarity about the use of the Dogger Bank ‘is finally beginning to emerge’. 

“The Dutch government is responsible for protecting this nursery and will have to discuss the future with the fishers: if they cannot demonstrate that their activities cause no harm, they will no longer be allowed to fish with trawls in this area,” said Reuchlin.

The ruling forms part of a growing wave of litigation across Europe challenging bottom trawling in protected zones, with cases active in France, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Germany, alongside two formal complaints to the European Commission. These represent a significant and accelerating legal pressure on governments and the fishing industry to reconcile industrial fishing practice with existing nature protection commitments.

“This case is important in the UK too, which is why we, a UK charity, were one of the litigants,” said Dr Tom Appleby, Head of Governance and Legal Affairs at Blue Marine Foundation. 

“After pressure from Blue Marine, the UK closed its part of the Dogger Bank to destructive bottom towed gears in 2022 and we would expect EU members to be doing the same. We have all signed up to the same international obligations, and protecting the North Sea benefits the environment of the entire region; seabirds, salmon, cetaceans and seals do not recognise national boundaries. 

“Restoring the North Sea ecosystem is vital for us all. We are now calling on governments from across the North Sea to respect the Dutch court’s decision.”

The legal significance of the ruling has been underscored by ClientEarth, whose senior lawyer John Condon describes it as a turning point for ocean protection across the continent.

“This is a landmark legal ruling for ocean protection, which is set to make waves across Europe,” he said. “The Dutch court has unequivocally confirmed that bottom trawling in protected areas cannot be ignored – ‘protected’ means protected. European decision-makers are on notice that they have a legal responsibility to act now in order to address this serious threat to our ocean’s wellbeing.”

The broader ecological case made here is that the Dogger Bank, and marine protected areas more widely, can only fulfil their purpose if protection exists in practice as well as on paper.

“A fundamental point is that nature can recover, but only if we genuinely give it the peace and space to do so,” said Karel van den Wijngaard, programme leader for the North Sea at ARK Rewilding Nederland. 

“The Dogger Bank is protected on paper, but protection only has meaning if the seabed is actually left undisturbed. This ruling increases the chance for nature to show how resilient it is – a chance for the Dogger Bank to become a rich area for marine life once again.”

The ruling now places the Dutch government under a clear legal obligation to establish a permit system for its fishing fleet operating in the Dogger Bank, with individual permits requiring environmental assessments demonstrating that fishing activity will not harm the protected area’s marine life. For vessels unable to demonstrate that, access to the zone will be withdrawn.

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