The European parliament has voted to ban “fly shooting” fishing in French territorial waters in the Channel, following reports that the technique, also known as demersal seining, was having a “devastating” effect on local fishers.
Campaigners described the result as a victory for small-scale fishers. Organisations representing coastal fishing communities on both sides of the Channel have warned that industrial trawling methods, including fly-shooting, are decimating their livelihoods and the marine ecosystem.
While the European parliament does not have the power to ban the fishing method, MEPs said the vote on Tuesday sent an important message to decision-makers about the impact of fly-shooting on coastal fishing communities. The vote on an amendment to the common fisheries policy, involving access to territorial waters, will now be considered by the European Commission, the parliament and EU member states.
Last year the UK was accused of allowing vessels using the fishing method “unfettered access” to the Channel without proper assessment of the impact on fish, the seabed or the livelihoods of coastal communities.
“This is a very important day for the ocean and coastal fishing communities,” said Laetitia Bisiaux, a project manager for the French environmental organisation Bloom. “MEPs were told about the destructive impacts of demersal seining by fishers who practice this technique themselves. The MEPs listened to the warnings that have long been ignored.
“The vote is a good political message from the EU parliament to the fishers, and to member states to ban this destructive technique,” she said.
Fly-shooter fishing boats, also known as Danish, Scottish or demersal seiners, tow lead-weighted ropes along the seabed at either end of a net that encircles and captures entire shoals of fish.
One expert told the Guardian that the method had between four and 11 times the “killing power” of
inshore fishing boats.
The amendment to the fisheries policy was tabled by the French Green MEP Caroline Roose, who said it was an “important first step” towards a ban.