In a new report, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) found that the European Union (E.U.) is unlikely to meet its 2030 marine conservation goals and that it’s failing to effectively protect the marine protected areas (MPAs) it has already established.
“The E.U. has made some progress in designating marine protected areas, but our audit shows that the true challenge is turning designation into actual protection. Turning political ambition into tangible results for marine ecosystems will require faster action, applicable protective measures, and a more coherent network across the E.U.’s seas,” ECA Member Iliana Ivanova, who led the audit, said in a release. “To ensure that marine protected areas function effectively, we need the European Commission and member states to join forces, as well as engagement with local stakeholders.”
Under its biodiversity strategy for 2030, the E.U. has set an ambitious goal of protecting 30 percent of its marine waters by 2030, with 10 percent of that area under strict protection. While the bloc has tripled the area covered by MPAs over the last 15 years, the ECA’s report found that only 13.7 percent of marine waters are currently designated as protected, and only 1 percent is under strict protection.
An ongoing challenge and concern is the presence of commercial fishing activity within MPAs, with auditors noting that taking massive amounts of fish out of an area or damaging the seabed can have major impacts on the marine environment. The report also found that fishing effort is actually higher within MPAs than outside of them.
“Our calculations show that apparent fishing effort in marine Natura 2000 areas is 1.72 times higher than outside those areas. Approximately 85 percent of apparent fishing effort is from fishing activities using the most destructive bottom-contact gear. Across eight marine sub-regions, the impact of fishing activities inside marine protected areas was significantly higher than in surrounding waters,” the report stated. “These results may reflect the fact that many coastal marine protected areas cover some of the most productive fishing grounds. Nevertheless, higher apparent fishing effort inside marine protected areas compared to the surrounding seas indicates risks for effective protection of marine species and calls for close monitoring.”
The E.U. regulatory process is also complex and time-consuming, with new fishing protections typically taking years from initial proposal to eventual adoption. According to the report, the European Commission “has only published 10 legal acts restricting fishing in around 40 protected areas” since the Common Fisheries Policy was adopted in 2013.
In its official response to the ECA report, the commission acknowledged the challenges with finding agreement and buy-in from member states to implement effective protections and the underwhelming progress on establishing more MPAs.
“This level of protection remains insufficient to counter biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change,” the European Commission said. “Greater efforts are therefore required, including through restoring degraded marine habitats.”
The ECA report includes four recommended actions the commission should take to improve marine conservation efforts, stating that it should:
- Encourage the development of a coherent trans-European network of marine protected areas;
- Work with member states to ensure that the designation of marine protected areas translates into applicable protective measures;
- Work with member states to support an effective transition towards environmental objectives, sustainable livelihoods, and competitive industries by promoting strong stakeholder engagement; and
- Strengthen adaptive management and monitoring of marine protected areas.
The commission accepted all four recommendations, while noting that the onus for achieving conservation targets and legal obligations falls on “member states to achieve.”
A recently created alliance of marine conservation NGOs – the MPA Legal Coalition – called the ECA report “damning.”
“Our oceans are in a terrifying state of decline,” the coalition said in a joint statement. “We can have all the pledges in the world to protect and restore them, but they mean nothing if those protections exist only on paper. Despite a suite of commitments from E.U. leaders in recent years, the ECA’s report shows the ever-widening gulf between rhetoric, and the reality on the seabed. In Europe, the solution is clear – we need to apply and enforce the laws we have already.”
The coalition includes ClientEarth, Blue Marine Foundation, Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, and Seas At Risk. Those groups have battled with European governments in court over protections against bottom trawling in MPAs, winning lawsuits in The Netherlands and France. Following the ECA report, the coalition called on the European Commission to initiate infringement proceedings against member states that allow “destructive activities” in MPAs.
Other conservation groups also criticized E.U. marine protections following the report’s release.
“Europe’s marine protected areas are protected in name only,” World Wildlife Foundation Manager for Ocean Policy Jacob Armstrong said. “Fishing pressure is 70 percent higher inside them than in surrounding waters, largely from destructive gear You would not declare a forest protected while allowing more logging inside than outside.”
Greece became the first E.U. nation to ban bottom trawling within MPAs, setting a goal to have it entirely phased out by 2026.
The commercial fishing sector has defended bottom trawling as a sustainable activity, with the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA) claiming it can be done responsibly with effective management.
