EU court backs ban on atlantic deep-sea fishing

June 13, 2025

A ban on deep-sea fishing in parts of the Atlantic rich with marine life has been upheld by the EU’s General Court.

It means these areas will remain restricted to help preserve vulnerable species and ecosystems. The decision comes after the same court ruled last month in a German case that Marine Protected Areas must be protected from bottom trawling.

Separate legal actions were filed by the Spanish government and fishermen from Galicia and Asturias who challenged a 2016 EU rule that banned fishing with nets and longlines in 87 areas of the Atlantic off the coasts of Spain, Ireland, Portugal and France.

When the rules came into effect in 2022, Spain sued the European Commission, claiming that it failed to consider the economic damage to fishermen. It also questioned the scientific methods used to determine how banned fishing gear and protected areas were chosen.

Protecting vulnerable species in the deep sea

The rules were adopted by the EU to conserve fish stocks in the deep sea and to protect marine life from fishing gear being dragged along the sea floor.

Among other things, these regulations outlaw the controversial fishing practice of bottom trawling below a depth of 800 metres in these parts of the north-east Atlantic.

Species found at depth in the oceans, such as alfonsinos, black scabbardfish, roundnose grenadier, red seabream and some shark species, collapse quickly because they are vulnerable to fishing and slow to reproduce, according to the EU.

The court stressed that the decision to protect these areas was in line with EU law. In its ruling, it said that the 87 areas were chosen because of the “proven or provable presence of protected species”.

Due to the vulnerability of these areas, it said that regulators were not required to assess whether some kinds of fishing gear were less damaging or the economic impact on fishermen.

The ruling also allows the European Commission to continue using scientific input from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea in determining future conservation areas.

Environmental lawyers ‘heartened’ by court ruling

Lawyers from environmental organisation ClientEarth say the ruling is likely to have a positive impact on other legal cases on bottom trawling happening across the EU.

“There is now too much evidence about the damage wrought by wide-scale, repeat bottom trawling to ignore,” says ClientEarth ocean lawyer Francesco Maletto.

“We are heartened to see the EU's General Court again uphold the principles of legal protection, keeping these areas of the ocean safe from harm, and ensuring healthy fish and marine wildlife populations.”

ClientEarth and others have launched legal action against multiple national governments, as well as bringing complaints to the EU itself, over the failure to tackle harmful fishing taking place in Marine Protected Areas. At last count, no EU country had a definitive roadmap to ban bottom trawling in zones designated for official protection.

After footage of bottom trawling from the film Ocean with David Attenborough shocked the world, calls for action have heightened. Some commitments to ban the practice have emerged from the UN Ocean Conference this week in Nice, with the UK and France making initial commitments to crack down on the practice.