Press Release: Nature groups condemn EU Commission’s request for arbitration tribunal over UK closure of sandeel fishing  

35 UK and EU conservation organisations¹ including the RSPB, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, Oceana UK, Wildlife and Countryside Link, and The Wildlife Trusts, have today issued a joint statement urging the Commission to reconsider its position and instead support this key ecosystem recovery measure in the interest of turning around the health of our beleaguered seas.

Sandeels are a key part of the UK ocean food chain, supporting vulnerable seabird species including Puffins, Kittiwakes, and Razorbills. They are also a vital food source for seals, porpoises and whales, and important fish species like Haddock and Whiting.

In January 2024, after decades of campaigning, the UK and Scottish governments announced an end to industrial sandeel fishing in English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish waters. The closure came into effect on 26th March and is regarded by conservationists as an essential step towards protecting globally important seabird populations, wider marine biodiversity and the future of sandeel-reliant UK fishing stocks.

Talks between the EU Commission and the UK Government have been ongoing since the Commission launched a challenge to the closure, questioning its legitimacy under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Failure to reach an agreement has now seen the Commission call for an arbitration tribunal to settle the dispute – a decision nature groups say not only challenges the UK’s ability to deliver ecosystem recovery but contributes to the EU abysmally failing to meet its own environmental obligations.

Signatories to the joint statement are urging the UK Government to stand strong in its defence of the closures, and for the EU Commission to reconsider its position and withdraw its challenge.

Ariel Brunner, Regional Director at BirdLife Europe, said: “The EU is on the wrong side of both science and history. Sandeels are not fished for human consumption but are reduced to fishmeal for aquaculture and livestock. To continue fishing sandeels threatens the collapse of other fish stocks and directly endangers the future of small-scale fishers for the benefit of a very specific industry. By prioritizing the demands of large-scale fishing interests, the EU risks the health of our oceans and the livelihoods of fishers and coastal communities. Commissioner Kadis’ litmus test awaits him as soon as he takes over the Commission. Will he be the ocean champion he claims to be? If he is, he must support the ban of sandeel fishing.”

Katie-jo Luxton, the RSPB’s director of conservation, said: “The EU’s decision flies in the face of its commitment to protect and restore marine ecosystems. It is a scandalous attempt to reverse a hard-won victory for under-pressure seabirds like Puffins and Kittiwakes, as well as the many other marine species that depend on sandeels. Stealing the food from their mouths will not build resilience against the many pressures they face and the UK Government must remain resolute in defence of these closures.”

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “Sandeels are familiar to us as flashes of silver in puffins’ bright beaks. Protecting them is vital to restoring devastated seabird populations, along with much-loved mammals such as seals, porpoises and whales. The UK Government should hold firm in the face of this challenge by the EU, and defend its much-needed decision to end industrial sandeel fishing. This is the type of leadership on the ground that will help in delivering an end to nature’s decline.”

Joan Edwards, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Closing UK sandeel fisheries was a historic and important decision to help marine wildlife recover. This positive step contributes towards achieving Good Environmental Status – the health measure for our seas – which the UK and many EU nations are failing to meet. We are disappointed the EU continues to challenge this decision, which goes against their rhetoric and existing commitments on nature recovery. Fishers rely on healthy marine ecosystems, and this decision is throwing a much-needed lifeline to fish, marine mammals and seabirds. We strongly support the UK Government on this and urge the EU to reevaluate its position.”

Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director of Oceana UK, said: “It is a deep betrayal of our shared seas that the EU is continuing this challenge, which is clearly driven by aggressive tactics from industry giants who lobby for short-term profit with scant regard for marine life. Sandeels are an essential pillar of life in our ocean, supporting a wealth of wildlife that rely on these fish for food, and are already under strain from other threats, from the climate crisis to chronic pollution.”

The decision to end industrial sandeel fishing in the UK has come at a critical time for seabird populations as an alarming 62% of breeding seabird species have declined across the UK. In Scotland, the UK’s seabird stronghold, declines are as much as 70%. Sandeel-dependent species like Puffins and Kittiwakes have declined by 23% and 43% respectively, in the last few decades. In September, five new seabird species were added to the UK Red list of highest conservation concern. Unsustainable fishing pressure is recognised as a key driver for these declines, and the reduced availability of sandeels has been repeatedly linked to the declining seabird populations that use the North Sea to forage.

The UK is failing on 11 out of 15 marine indicators for Good Environmental Status (GES), performing particularly badly on seabird populations.² As a result, the UK’s closure of industrial sandeel fisheries has been particularly seen by marine experts as an important step toward improving GES.

Nature experts are warning that the EU should follow suit on taking measures to protect the marine environment to meet its own GES commitments. Very few EU nations are currently meeting GES, with approximately 33% of seabird populations in Europe in decline and 22% regarded as ‘threatened’.³ Yet despite the importance of sandeels to European seabirds no such fishing closures are planned, with campaigners calling the EU out on this.⁴

ENDS. 

For more information, please contact:  

Cyrielle Goldberg 

Marine Policy Officer, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia

[email protected] 

Saskia Pelzer 

Communications Officer, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia

[email protected]

Joint Statement, November 19th 2024

NGOs across the UK and EU are outraged that the European Commission continues to contest the UK and Scottish governments’ decision to close sandeel fishing in the English North Sea and all Scottish waters as a crucial measure to support marine biological diversity, particularly for the UK’s struggling populations of globally important seabirds. The move by the EU not only challenges the UK’s ability to deliver ecosystem recovery but contributes to the EU abysmally failing to meet its own environmental obligations. 

Announced as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP16 opened in full swing, the EU is sending an appalling message to the rest of the world. Instead of fighting a key ecosystem recovery measure, the Commission should be supporting it in the interest of turning around the health of our beleaguered seas. 

Sandeel are a low trophic level species that play a key role in ensuring an abundance of biodiversity in the marine environment by providing a vital food source to vulnerable seabirds, commercially and recreationally important fish species such as cod, haddock, whiting and Atlantic salmon, and marine mammals including seals, porpoises, and whales.

Collectively we remain in support of this closure and commend the UK in this crucial decision to contribute towards achieving national and international biodiversity targets. We support the UK in standing strong and urge the Commission to reconsider its position.

Notes for editors: 

Cover image by Stijn Smits