Is the North Sea being plundered?

2025-04-16

IJMUIDEN - After pulse fishing was banned by the European Parliament in 2018, many Dutch fishermen switched to flyshooting. However, flyshoot fishing mainly targets species for which there is too little data to manage stocks properly. These are not subject to quotas and fishermen can take them out of the sea without limit. And that is a recipe for overfishing.

After pulse fishing was banned by the European Parliament in 2018, many Dutch fishermen switched to the so-called flyshoot. This is said to make fishing more sustainable, as this originally Danish fishing method uses less fuel.

Fish traders unanimously praise the quality of the fish landed by these vessels. But there is a downside to flyshooting, experts warn. These vessels fish mainly for species for which there is too little data to manage stocks properly, such as gurnard, mullet and squid. They are not subject to quotas; fishermen can take these species out of the sea without limit. And that is a recipe for overfishing, scientists say.

Also, the massive Dutch presence of flyshooters in the North Sea and Channel leads to conflicts with smaller-scale fishermen from Belgium and France.

Photo: © Bram Logger

Team members

Parcival Weijnen

Parcival Weijnen is a Dutch freelance investigative journalist.

Bram Logger

Bram Logger is a Dutch freelance investigative journalist.

Steven Vanden Bussche

Steven Vanden Bussche (Belgium) is an investigative journalist at Apache.

Supported

€4,310 allocated on 11/03/2024

LOCAL/2024/025

Grant

FPD Low Countries

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