Electric pulse fishing -- the mass electrocution of fish via powerful currents sent out from trawlers – turns oceans into graveyards. The environmentally destructive method is outlawed around the world, from the US to Brazil to China. Here in the EU, it’s been banned since 1998.
 
So why are fish still being electrocuted in Europe?
 
Under the influence of powerful fishing industry lobbyists, the EU granted an “emergency” exemption for a Netherlands-adjacent zone in the North Sea. Since 2006, Dutch trawlers have been allowed to send shockwaves across the ocean floor that kill or stun everything in their path.
 
In January, the European Parliament finally voted to close the loophole and ban pulse fishing everywhere. But member states have yet to approve -- and the Dutch industrial fisheries are doing everything they can to derail the legislation.
 
Trilogue talks are resuming in September, so we need to take action fast. A coalition of independent, ethical fisheries are protesting in support of the ban. Will you help make their voices heard and keep deadly electrical currents out of our oceans?
 
Tell the European Council and EU member states to uphold the ban on electric pulse fishing.
 
Small-scale fisheries have seen firsthand the devastation that occurs in the wake of electric pulse trawlers. The currents cause violent, uncontrolled convulsions that break fish spines and damage their organs. Up to 70 percent of the catch is then discarded, and many of the discarded fish don’t survive.
 
The method isn’t just a threat to marine life -- it’s a threat to the livelihoods of more ethical fishers, who can no longer ply their trade in the “deserts” left behind by the pulse trawlers.
 
Yet despite the known harm the practice causes, the EU hasn’t just allowed pulse fishing in the years since 2006 -- it’s publicly funded it. Under the guise of “research”, the Dutch industry applied for and received over €5 million in subsidies to refine and develop their destructive electric fishing methods.
 
Now, following January's ruling, Dutch fisheries are turning to even more dubious science, calling on biased studies that compare electric fishing with traditional beam trawling, another questionable fishing method which can produce even more destructive results.

If we don’t raise our voices now, we risk the industry receiving exemptions yet again. Unchecked, Dutch vessels will electrocute the North Sea over and over until the very last fish is gone.

Help prevent the North Sea from turning into a marine desert. Support the ban on electric pulse fishing!

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