Germany may not unilaterally ban fishing with trawl and gillnets in the protected areas of sylt aubenriff and pomeranian bay under eu law.
This was decided by the european court of justice in luxembourg (case C-683/16). Since a ban would also affect fishermen in other EU countries, it would be a matter for the european union, if at all. Environmental groups reacted with disappointment.
The german nature conservation ring had applied in germany to ban the fishing methods because of negative consequences for the environment and species in the protected areas.
Conservationists complain trawls could affect reefs and sandbars in protected areas. They see the gillnets as a danger for porpoises and seabirds.
The german authorities rejected a ban because it would affect the EU’s common fisheries policy and only the EU commission could intervene.
The environmental umbrella organization took legal action against this before the administrative court in coland, which referred the question of competence to the eugh for clarification. The court now ruled that the requested reductions could not in fact be unilaterally imposed by a member state if fishing boats from other member states were affected – and that was the case here.
The german nature conservation ring regretted that eu nature conservation law could only be implemented here within the framework of the common fisheries policy. This is time-consuming and coordination-intensive and thus a "high hurdle for marine environmental protection," the umbrella organization complained. For other forms of marine use, a contractual call is obligatory. "Of all things, fishing, which is recognized as causing the greatest damage to the sea, continues to be exempt from this rule. This is a scandal."