Closed petition STOP paying French fishing fleet to bottom-trawl in UK waters

Closed on 27 February 2014

We urge you to support the European proposal to ban deep-sea bottom trawling, which is recognized as one of the most destructive fishing methods in history.

This underperforming, subsidy dependent, unprofitable activity concerns less than a dozen French and Spanish vessels whereas its environmental impact is highly disproportionate: huge weighted nets rake and destroy the most vulnerable ocean ecosystems, catching more than 100 species, which are discarded but count endangered animals.

These industrial fisheries devastate our natural heritage by scraping the longest-lived animals on the planet: corals that are thousands of years old, and that should be preserved like Egyptian mummies are.

Mr. Cameron, we ask you to honour your 'green' commitments and to put an end to the deforestation of the deep oceans. We ask you to fully support the proposal to ban deep-sea bottom trawling.