A quarter of a million citizens across Europe have added their names to a bold new petition calling on the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans to end the destruction of Europe’s marine protected areas (MPAs) by banning bottom trawling.

The petition – one that calls on Commissioner Costas Kadis to fully implement EU law and enforce the 2023 EU Marine Action Plan – has been pulled together by various teams from across the ocean and nature advocacy space, including Patagonia, Blue Ventures, Blue Marine Foundation, and ClientEarth.

Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive fishing methods in use. Dragging heavy nets across the seafloor, it devastates biodiversity, fuels climate change, and wipes out the very ecosystems MPAs are meant to protect. Yet, 60% of Europe’s MPAs are still being bottom-trawled – and many of them more heavily than their surrounding waters.

With the third UN Ocean Conference now only weeks away and global attention turning to Europe’s leadership, the petition is emblematic of the demand among its citizens today.

Earlier this week, NGOs voiced strong concern that a leaked, draft version of the European Ocean Pact – a collective vision championed by civil society and policymakers calling on the EU to become a global leader in ocean protection – has not yet gone far enough to address the most destructive practices impacting European waters, including bottom-trawling, overfishing, and concrete steps to address pollution.

“Citizens are calling for change – the destruction caused by bottom trawling in marine protected areas is a problem the EU can’t ignore any longer,” said Vera Coelho, deputy vice president at Oceana in Europe on behalf of participating civil society organisations.

“The European Ocean Pact must now deliver real protection for MPAs – benefiting the ocean, fishers, and coastal communities, and allowing the EU to lead globally on 30 x 30 targets.”

Small-scale fishers, who make up nearly 80% of Europe’s fleet and half its fisheries jobs, are among those hardest hit by industrial trawling. Scientists have also warned that bottom trawling is incompatible with climate resilience, marine conservation, and international standards.

“Bottom trawling inside marine protected areas is not just bad policy – it’s a betrayal of the EU’s climate and biodiversity commitments,” said Beth Thoren, Environmental Action and Initiatives Director, EMEA at Patagonia. 

“Citizens across Europe are demanding the EU act now, it’s time to show courage and ban this destructive practice.”

The call is building on public support. A recent poll found that 82% of citizens in seven EU countries support stricter regulation of bottom trawling, and 73% back a full ban within MPAs.

Last week, a leaked draft of the European Commission’s long-awaited Ocean Pact sparked concern among NGOs, including WWF EPO, BirdLife, and Oceana for failing to offer concrete actions that address some of the most pressing threats to marine life and biodiversity.

While the groups did welcome the document’s emphasis on the improved implementation of EU and international commitments, they said it ‘fell short’ of concrete measures to tackle the fisheries sector’s resilience in the face of climate change and ecological collapse, or key issues such as bottom-trawling in Marine Protected Areas, overfishing, growing microplastic pollution, and a lack of funding commitments for marine protection.

“The draft Pact signals that the Commission understands the need to close the gap between legislation and action,” said the consortium of NGOs in a press release. “But good intentions without decisive action are not enough. 

“It is alarming that the Pact fails to name and address the most destructive activities still allowed in EU waters – without confronting these directly, it risks becoming yet another well-meaning but toothless strategy.”

The final version of the Ocean Pact is expected to be published on June 4 this year, ahead of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France.

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