EU Fishing subsidies are killing us

Bottom Trawling is the most destructive industrial fishing method in the world. It destroys the seabed by dragging a metal beam across its surface smashing everything in its path.

It catches all marine life.

Its 150metre jaws are big enough to swallow a Boeing 747 and its depth of up to 1km means nothing escapes – 93% of all coincidentally caught marine life (including turtles, dolphins and sharks) is from bottom trawling. Coincidentally caught marine life, or ‘bycatch’, is marine life that is thrown back into the Ocean dead or dying because the trawler is only looking for particular types of fish, like cod. It means a cruel, slow and painful death either by injury or asphyxiation.

⬆️ Watch Ocean Rebellion remind EU politicians of their complicity in the destruction of coastal waters. Film by Peter Boyd.

If bottom trawling ends so will this cruel destruction – imagine how many tonnes of marine life will be saved, how much seabed won’t be ploughed up – seabed that’s also a crucial nursery to young fish and a vital part of the marine ecosystem.

EU Member States must stop subsidising the bottom trawling industry. The €11 billion a year it currently gives industrial fisheries must be redirected and used locally, given to small fishers and coastal communities. They are the people who rely, care for and understand their local seas.

Industrial fishing and its war on fish must end, it’s time for new plan, another Ocean is possible.