The General Court of the European Union dismissed the resources filed by Spain and various entities that group Galician and Asturian fishermen against the Veto to drag fishing in marine areas adopted by the European Commission and it is reaffirmed in which the areas of protection They will not change.
A sentence that prohibits using this capture technique at a depth greater than or equal to 400 metersconsidering that the resources filed do not demonstrate that the drag does not pose a risk for the most vulnerable marine ecosystems.
The idea of the European Union is that At all costs marine ecosystems should be protected that they are considered vulnerable and that the designated areas have planned precisely to comply with this measure, so the drag fish will have to restrict a lot not to destroy the seabed, as was happening so far.
Ecosystems protection is a priority
The General Court of the European Union (TGUE) dismissed several resources filed by Spain and by Galician and Asturian fishermen against the designation by the European Commission of Areas that must be subject to protection In Spain, considering that there is, or is probable, vulnerable marine ecosystems.
In a judgment recently published in the Court, based in Luxembourg, he said that «the area qualification in which the existence of vulnerable marine ecosystems is known or in which they are likely to exist, it is based on the verified or possible presence of protected species and the characteristics of the ecosystem itself, ”said the court’s press service.
The tgue understands that this «guarantees its protection against the significant adverse effects of background arts in general«. He adds that the community executive was not obliged to designate those areas in 2022 to “appreciate the fragility of ecosystems” according to each type of art used by demanding fishermen or “evaluate the consequences of conservation measures in fishing activities and in economic and social life.”
The Court adds in its judgment, which admits appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union (TJUE), that “it has not been shown that the commission manifestly exceeds its margin of appreciation when using, when establishing the areas, a certain methodology proposed in the relevant opinion of the International Council for Sea Exploration (Dark) ».
Nor has it been shown that Methodology followed was not adequate, that could not contribute to the objective of persecuted protectionnor that another methodology would have been more effective for the delimitation of these areas, community judges reason.
The General Court too dismisses the allegations related to the legality of the legislative act that provided for the adoption of the contested regulationsince this “did not illicitly attributed powers to the commission” nor “infringed the norms of common fishing policy or violated the principle of proportionality due to the indiscriminate prohibition of fishing with background arts in all designated areas.”
In that sense, the TGU states that LA prohibition does not apply to fishing with background arts to a depth less than or equal to 400 meters And, on the other hand, that Spain and demanding fishermen have not shown that the fixed arts lack adverse effects, so that it can exclude the risk that these arts present in relation to vulnerable marine ecosystems.
A sentence highly applauded by environmentalists
Several Ecologist organizations qualified the sentence as “historical” In a joint statement signed by the coalition of deep waters (DSCC), Sciaena and Ecologists in Action, in which they stressed that the sentence “confirms that the Protections existing are based both on science and legislation ».
“This Judgment reaffirms that the protection of deep water by the EU It must be based on existing legislation and scientific evidence, and not be influenced by short -term industrial interests, ”said DSCC, which considered the Court’s decision as” a crucial victory for marine depths and for future generations that depend on healthy oceanic ecosystems. “
The EU has since 2016 with a deep water fishing regulation that prohibits drag fishing at depths exceeding 800 meters in community waters of the Northeast Atlantic for certain species, and forces the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems of all the contact fishing arts with the background, including drag and longline. In 2022, and after consulting with the International Council for Sea Exploration (CIEM), the European Commission designated 87 areas as vulnerable marine ecosystems and closed them to background fishing.
«The objections of some Member States – mainly Spain and Portugal – focused on closed areas representing a small fraction of community folders“But,” even so, these objections delayed the advance of the next phase of closures, which aims to expand the protection more habitats of deep waters in the waters of the EU, ”recalled the Ecologist Oenegés.
«The European Court has The arguments presented by Spain and the fishing industry to block new deep water protection measures rejected without ambiguity. Now we ask the Spanish government to support the full application of existing community norms to safeguard deep waters ecosystems, key to the health of oceans and the fishing of the future, ”said environmentalists in action. EFE