Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced at the Our Ocean Conference (OOC) in April that the use of bottom trawling in all marine protected areas will be banned in 2030, becoming the first in the EU.
“Bottom trawling” uses the method of sinking fishing nets to the seabed and dragging them to catch fish. This not only results in indiscriminate fishing, but also flattens the seabed, destroys seabed habitats, and seriously undermines the sustainable development of the marine environment. Although the EU recommends that member states phase out bottom trawling in marine protected areas by 2030, according to statistics from the Marine Conservation Organization, 90% of EU Natura 2000 marine reserves still have bottom trawling activities, which does not contribute to marine protection and sustainable development of the environment. achieve substantial benefits.
Mitsotakis promised that bottom trawling will be completely banned in the National Marine Park by 2026 and is expected to be expanded to all marine protected areas by 2030. He also announced that bottom trawling will be banned in the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea. ) established new protected areas respectively, increasing the area of marine protected areas nationwide by 80%, reaching almost 1/3 of the territorial waters.
On the other hand, Mitsotakis said that he will use a budget of 780 million euros for various actions to protect the ocean, and plans to build a high-tech monitoring system by 2026, using technologies such as drones, satellites, and artificial intelligence. to ensure the ban is implemented.
Nicholas Fournier, director of initiatives at the international marine conservation organization Oceana, is happy to see this success and hopes that more countries will follow suit and join the ranks of banning bottom trawling.
However, international conservation organizations such as Greenpeace also reminded that although Greece’s new policy on marine environmental protection is commendable, Greece also intends to develop natural gas in the deep sea, which will directly impact the ecology of cetaceans and is still a challenge to the sustainable development of the marine environment. Big hazard.
TEST 400/ Greece announces ban on bottom trawling in all marine protected areas in 2030, becoming the first in the EU
