A major European campaign to end overfishing and phase out mega-factory ships over 33 metres in length.
To coincide with the reform of the European budget, BLOOM is launching a major European campaign to put an end to the human, economic and environmental devastation caused by the mega-industrial segment of the European fishing industry. Under this budget, between €3.5 and €7 billion will be earmarked for the fisheries sector for the period 2028–2034.
In a major scientific publication redefining ‘sustainability’ as applied to global fisheries, the world’s leading ocean experts agreed on one key point: for a fishery to be considered ‘sustainable’, it must comply with eleven ‘Golden Rules’, including one ironclad rule: a limit on vessel size. The principle had been established, but the question remained unanswered until now: at what size does a fishing vessel become too large?
It is this ‘maximum tolerable length’ that our scientific work has sought to identify – a threshold beyond which fishing becomes unsustainable, imposing a heavy cost on society, fishers, the marine environment and the climate. This threshold, beyond which we speak of mega-industrial fishing, is 33 metres.
Because the severity of the crises calls for exceptional measures, we demand the phasing out of the 1 per cent of vessels that are the most destructive. We need to put an end to the waste of public money, to preserve the fishing industry, its jobs and its economic value, and to guarantee our food sovereignty in the years to come.
We call for a ban on counter-fishing and for the phasing out of the 638 European mega-factory vessels over 33 metres in length.
by including in the European funds currently under discussion a mandatory programme for the permanent cessation of all EU fishing vessels 33 metres in length or more. We estimate the cost of scrapping this 1% of the European fleet at €2.7 billion. Beyond the environmental and social benefits derived from scrapping the most problematic vessels in the fleet, this will put an end to the financial and political exploitation of the sector by this mega-industry, finally putting the power back with fishers to regain control over their representative bodies, their quotas and their own future.
Find out moreHow? By moving away from destructive and energy intensive fishing methods:
This includes a ban on aid for fishing for overexploited stocks and for operators engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Find out moreHow? By making the following information publicly available:
of the EU’s fishing vessels are between 33 and 45 metres long. As of July 2026, there are 638 of them.
of mega-industrial vessels are equipped with gear towed behind the vessel, which has a significant impact on marine ecosystems, such as trawl nets, seines and dredges.
of these vessels spend their time catching fish outside European waters, operating outside the territory they are supposed to serve and often to the detriment of coastal communities in third countries
is the average distance at which mega-industrial vessels make their catches, which is greater than the distance as the crow flies between Lisbon in Portugal and Reykjavik in Iceland (3,481 km).
per year is paid by the European Union to 0.1% of the European fleet to enable them to fish in the waters of third countries.
of European waters are considered to be ‘problem areas’ by the European Environment Agency (EEA, 2026).
per year, on average, is the minimum amount of public funding from which this mega-industry is exempt, thanks to indirect support: the fuel tax exemption.
of the main fish stocks in the North-East Atlantic are outside safe biological limits (STECF, 2026).
vessels in the European mega-industrial fleet has been convicted, or is actively suspected, of committing offences.
is the term proposed by Claire Nouvian, Baptiste Morizot and Daniel Pauly to describe mega-industrial vessels that are 33 metres in length or above.
is the maximum size limit for fishing vessels, the "maximum tolerable length" (MTL) that we are calling on the European Union to adopt to put an end to counter-fishing.
are the three European countries with the largest mega-industrial fleets.
Whenever something is wrong, something is too big. But where do we draw the line? We are caught up in technical systems that have become destructive: that which liberates seems irrevocably intertwined with that which wreaks havoc. This has given rise to the two forms of complacency of our age: technophilia, which promises that the system will repair the damage it causes, and technophobia, which idealises a return to the ‘small-scale’ as the only sensible course of action.
In order to pinpoint the moment when something becomes its opposite and is corrupted, a clearly defined setting was required: the ocean. Since 1970, the ocean has lost more than half of its life. Industrial fishing has achieved the impossible: it has emptied the ocean. Ports are closing, small-scale fishing fleets are dying out, and fishers from the Global South are being crushed. The word ‘fishing’ encompasses two diametrically opposed realities: one lives off the sea and lets it live; the other devours it, and everything that depends on it. In order to distinguish between the two, it took the combined efforts of an activist, a scientist and a philosopher. Together, they have drawn the line beyond which the activity becomes its own negation: ‘counter-fishing’. This book sets out to disarm it.
The method they have devised can inspire us wherever a system destroys what it claims to produce: where does ‘counter-agriculture’ begin? What about ‘counter-forestry’, even? Their approach rejects binary oppositions between environmentalists and economic advocates, and invites us to forge unexpected alliances. This book broaches the possibility of an unprecedented ecological and social victory, with a vision to reclaim the ocean.
Reclaim the Ocean will soon be available in English.
Claire Nouvian
Founder and Director of BLOOM
Baptiste Morizot
French philosopher and specialist in living organisms
Daniel Pauly
Professor at the University of British Columbia and world-renowned expert in marine resources
The maximum tolerable length for the ocean.
Read the report
Eighty years of ocean destruction caused by oversized fishing fleets.
Read the report
The first comprehensive assessment of more than 30 years of European public funding for the fishing sector.
Read the report
29 September 2026
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21 September 2026
11 June 2026
21 September 2026
11 June 2026
