UK Labour Party ready to ban bottom fishing once in power

4 months ago 18

The UK Labour Party, widely expected to win the general election on 4 July, has announced that it will ban bottom fishing in all national marine protected areas, a move that could strain EU-UK relations two years ahead of the renewal of their trade agreement.

In a debate on nature conservation on Thursday (28 June), Labour MP and Shadow Environment Minister Toby Perkins announced that he “will stop destructive bottom trawling that is destroying our ocean ecosystem”.

This would be “one of our first measures” he said, if his party comes to power after the parliamentary elections. The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have also pledged to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas.

Bottom trawling is the practice of dragging heavy fishing nets across the ocean floor, a method NGOs have called one of the most destructive, resulting in the loss of ecosystems, the release of carbon stored in the seabed, and high levels of by-catch and discards.

Last March, the Conservative UK government announced a ban on this practice in 13 of the 178 so-called protected marine areas, covering a total of 4,000km2. The decision caused panic in European countries that fished in these areas.

The European Commission has called on member states to phase out this practice by 2030 in marine protected areas, but so far, only Greece and Sweden have announced a ban to end bottom fishing.

Treaty on the high seas

The Labour Party, which is poised to take over the British government after 14 years of Conservative rule in London, also intends to ratify the adoption of the Global Ocean Treaty presented by the United Nations in 2023.

This agreement aims to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, particularly on the high seas – outside national jurisdictions – by implementing protective measures, including the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs).

Although 89 countries have signed it, only seven have ratified it: the Republic of Palau, Chile, Belize, the Seychelles, Monaco, Mauritius, and France, the only European country. The European Union has also given its approval. However, for the treaty to be effective, it must be ratified by at least 60 countries.

“The global ocean treaty was incredibly important, but it’s still hasn’t been ratified in UK law. We will do that as one of our first measures in government,” Toby Perkins said.

Pressure on the new Commission

NGO Oceana UK welcomed his statement as “a huge win for our oceans”, although the Labour Party had not mentioned these measures in its programme for the elections.

“We will continue to fight for these bans to be enforced in all our marine protected areas. Until this happens, they are no more than lines drawn on a map,” Hugo Tagholm, the executive director for Oceana UK, told Euractiv.

The European branch of the association added that “following announcements from Greece and Sweden that they will ban this destructive practice, Oceana expects the EU to make this a matter of priority in the new European Commission’s work programme”.

On the fishermen’s side, these announcements will only amplify the existing tensions with the United Kingdom. In a study, the NGO Oceana calculated that bottom gears were active for 33,000 hours in 2023 in British marine protected areas, mainly due to European vessels.

France and other European countries recently accused the UK of breaching its trade agreement with the EU. The discussions between the two partners are still ongoing.

The new British government and the new Commission will also have to negotiate the renewal of this agreement in 2026, which is already shaping up to be a stormy affair.