fishing
EU court nods in the North Sea bans in the North Sea
Crab fishermen fear for their income, the EU wants to protect endangered species: a judgment on fishing bans in the North Sea now ensures clarity – but it is not about the fish stocks.
The German North Sea fishermen must accept a setback in the legal dispute with special catch bans. The EU’s court rejected its lawsuit against corresponding bans from the EU Commission in full, as said in Luxembourg. The plaintive association of the German cutter and coastal fishermen was unable to invalidate the reasons for caught bans.
In particular, the prohibitions are about fishing types in which nets or parts of them are pulled across the sea floor, which is the case with the crab fishermen, for example. The Brussels authority wants to protect sandbars and reefs with the restrictions, where tug networks threaten pork whales and various species of birds. Specifically, it is about measures in the areas of Sylt outer reef, Borkum reef base, Doggerbank and eastern Deutsche Bucht as well as Klaverbank, Friese Front and Central Oestergronden.
The association wanted to achieve exceptions to the EU protected areas that are within the German exclusive business zone (AWZ), i.e. the sea area beyond the coastal sea. In court, he argued, among other things, that the forbidden areas were caught more spacious than would be necessary to protect the habitats. It has also been proven that crab fishing has no significantly negative effects on the Habitat sandbar.
dpa
Source: Stern
