The Netherlands on Thursday lost a bid before the European Court of Justice to overturn an EU law banning electric pulse fishing, a practice widely used by Dutch fisherman.
The court rejected arguments that the EU law ignored certain scientific opinions regarding its impact on marine ecosystems.
“None of the arguments put forward by the Netherlands demonstrates the manifestly inappropriate nature of the technical measures in question,” it ruled.
The verdict triggered a sharp response from Dutch fishing industry representatives.
“The decision-making in Europe to ban pulse fishing is based on emotional smear campaigns and not on the best available scientific advice,” the umbrella Dutch Fishing Union and VisNed organisations said in a statement.Netherlands loses bid to overturn EU ban on pulse fishing
The European Court’s ruling was the “last hope for many family businesses using pulse fishing in these already difficult times,” they added.
Pulse fishing involves electrodes being deployed to cause muscular spasms in fish to dislodge certain flatfish species and shrimp that dwell close to or in the sea bed. It does not kill or stun the fish, but rather causes them to jump up into the path of nets trawled along by commercial vessels.
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