Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs) on April 16, according to Euractiv.
At the ninth Our Ocean world conference, held in Athens until April 17, Mitsotakis announced that Greece would ban the MPAs by 2030. The country would start with national marine parks, where bottom fishing would be banned “by 2026”. It would then be prohibited “in all marine protected areas by 2030,” the prime minister announced.
This method of fishing, condemned by environmental associations, involves dragging heavy nets across the seabed, damaging ecosystems and releasing carbon trapped on the seabed.
The statement by Mitsotakis came on the day that the Oceana association published a report showing that bottom fishing was still being practised in 90% of European marine protected areas, despite the European Commission’s recommendation to member states to phase out the method by 2030.
Nicolas Fournier, Oceana’s European campaign manager for marine protection, voiced hope that the ban “creates a domino effect on other European countries to do the same.” Mitsotakis pledged to deploy a modern surveillance system “powered by drones, satellites and artificial intelligence” to effectively patrol protected areas by 2026.
In addition to the prohibition, two new national parks would be established, one in the Ionian Sea and another in the Aegean Sea, increasing the size of the country’s marine protected areas by 80%.
Mitsotakis also vowed to eliminate 50% of marine plastic waste by 2030 and promised that 21 actions would be implemented due to a budget of 780 million euros.
The ocean has paid a heavy price for its service to humankind. It has been a vital source of life and livelihood. We have not been kind to it in return.
