TELL THE COMMISSIONER: STOP RANSACKING OUR OCEANS

Your taxes are funding the destruction of Europe's seas.

Europe's largest megatrawlers are emptying our seas at a scale most people can't imagine. According to the European Environment Agency, by the end of 2024 only 28% of assessed EU fish stocks were being sustainably fished. In the Mediterranean and Black Sea, that figure collapses to just 9%.

Overfishing is the name of the game, and Europeans are losing.

These ships fish dirty. Tracking data analysed by Global Fishing Watch shows they spend hundreds of thousands of hours every year inside marine protected area (MPAs) — zones that exist specifically to let fish populations recover. Research shows fully protected MPAs can increase fish abundance by up to 400%. That recovery never comes when a 143-metre factory trawler is dragging nets through them.

And then there's the money. The owners of these ships have received tens of millions in public subsidies. That public money helped build the very fleet now stripping our oceans bare. Destructive fishing is a net loss and Europeans are footing the bill.

The families who own these ships operate behind hundreds of subsidiary companies across dozens of countries. When they get caught — and they do get caught — the penalties rarely match the scale of what they took.

The system is designed to absorb the fines and carry on.

Commissioner Kadis has the power to end public funding for this fleet and to push for these vessels to be removed from European waters once and for all. He needs to hear from the people paying the price.