Economic and Social Impact

Despite being one of the most regulated and controlled human activities at sea, bottom-contact fisheries are facing increasing regulatory scrutiny across Europe. These regulations, which are designed to safeguard marine habitats, often include fishing restrictions to traditional fishing grounds and closures in key areas. We want to find balance trade-offs between fishing impacts, nature protection and food production.

The rising cost of operations, including fuel prices, inflation, labor costs, which do not match low seafood prices, is a growing challenge. Many fisheries are struggling to remain economically viable, particularly small and medium companies who are most vulnerable to fluctuations in market demand and bureaucratic pressure.

European bottom-contact fisheries must compete in a global market where competitors often operate under less stringent environmental and labor standards. This creates pricing pressures and market disadvantages for European fisheries, which are held to higher regulatory standards, increasing their operating costs. Further restricting bottom fishing is not an option we can afford in the EU, particularly if we want to reduce our dependency on seafood imports – which amount to more than 70%. The gap left by EU production will be filled with imports from countries such as Russia and China.

While the industry has made significant strides in reducing its environmental footprint, it faces ongoing pressure from environmental advocacy groups that do not recognize the progress made and want to ban the activity all together without considering the impact for society. This poses a reputational risk for the sector.

Climate change is altering marine ecosystems, shifting the distribution of fish stocks and disrupting traditional fishing patterns. These changes present long-term challenges, as fisheries must adapt to new environmental conditions and unpredictable shifts in species availability, which can further strain socio-economic stability.