Webinar: Electring Fishing, Assessment after the Victory
October 26th, 2020
One year after the filming of the Watt the Fish documentary, what assessment can be made of the campaign against electric fishing?
On Thursday, October 15, the environmental association BLOOM organized a webinar chaired by Laetitia Bisiaux, project manager for 'electric fishing' at BLOOM, one year after the release of the Watt the Fish documentary. Younous Omarjee, president of the Regional Development Committee in the European Parliament and Member of the European Parliament for the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, kicked off the evening, followed by Stéphane Pinto, fisherman and spokesperson for the netters of Hauts-de-France, and Frédéric Le Manach, scientific director of BLOOM. The occasion for us to take stock of this controversial fishing technique.
"A fishing method belonging to another time"
Electric fishing, or pulse trawling, was invented in 1992 by a Dutch fisherman. It involves sending electric pulses from a trawl into the seabed, paralyzing fish buried in the sediments, causing them to rise and making them easier to catch. "A fishing method belonging to another time," according to Younous Omarjee. Electric fishing has been banned by the European Union since 1998, but the Netherlands has held exemptions since 2007, allowing them to equip 15 trawls for experimental purposes. So far, no problem. But, according to BLOOM, the Netherlands have equipped many more vessels, over 95, a "completely disproportionate expansion" according to Frédéric Le Manach. "They've got their foot in the door." This shocking observation led the association to file a complaint with the European Commission against the Netherlands, first in 2017 and then again in 2019, with no results. The European Commission is "tough on the weaker ones [small fishermen, editor's note] and weak with the stronger ones," insists Younous Omarjee, even though the Dutch are in total violation of the law. On July 25, 2019, European Regulation No. 2019-1241, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, put an end to electric fishing in its waters from July 1, 2021, including the exemptions held by the Netherlands. "This shows that victories against lobbies are possible," rejoices Younous Omarjee. France, on the other hand, chose to implement this regulation as of August 14, 2019, thus banning electric trawls in its waters of the North Sea, up to 12 nautical miles from the French coast. A new campaign, allowing every citizen to file a complaint with the European Commission, was launched by BLOOM on October 12, 2020, accusing the Netherlands of still benefiting from 27 exemptions. According to Stéphane Pinto, the European Union itself deserves to be "sanctioned for the mistakes it may have made."
"Lobbies have painted electric fishing as a scientific and sustainable innovation"
Two camps are opposed. On one side, large Dutch shipowners defend this technique as being economical and ecological, with boats consuming less fuel, not scraping the seabed, and limiting bycatch. On the other side, small fishermen denounce a catastrophic situation in waters where electric fishing is practiced, a fishing technique that is anything but selective, with broken fish spines, and a lack of studies to quantify the real impact of this method on the resource. Scientists thus call for the precautionary principle, but "lobbies have painted electric fishing as a scientific and sustainable innovation," says Younous Omarjee. Most of the industrial fishing fleets in Europe have been bought by the Netherlands, granting them a strong state lobby for electric fishing, which is not the case for France. For now, Annick Girardin, Minister of the Sea, has not expressed her views on the subject, and France's position remains in favor of banning electric fishing in Europe.
"Subsidies should not be used to destroy the marine environment"
Small fishermen in Hauts-de-France have particularly suffered from the arrival of this fishing technique, and the situation has only worsened in recent years, especially with the scarcity of sole and difficulties in diversification. Ten years ago, there were still 80 French netters in the North Sea, compared to 35 today. Recall that one job at sea corresponds to four jobs on land. "We must be much more resource-preserving and not do anything," says Stéphane Pinto. If no solution is found, requesting a fleet exit plan (1) for 2021 will be considered. The question of subsidies has thus been put on the table. According to Frédéric Le Manach, "if we eliminated subsidies for small and large fishermen, it is mainly the large ones that would suffer." However, making a distinction between existing subsidies is necessary for Stéphane Pinto, who believes that some of them are used wisely. The key is that they do not serve to destroy the marine environment. Fighting for sustainable and responsible fishing, protecting resources in the first place, and continuing the fight against electric fishing were the last words of this webinar.
(1) Aid for the permanent cessation of fishing activities
The BLOOM association has launched a campaign so that every citizen can individually file a complaint with the European Commission against the Dutch government for non-compliance with the European regulation banning electric fishing.