Notice to supermarkets: BLOOM publishes the red list of destructive vessels

23 March 2025

For the first time, BLOOM is publishing a turnkey tool that will enable supermarket chains to make a commitment to protecting the ocean and small-scale fishers: the red list of destructive vessels that urgently need to be phased out. The list includes little less than 4,000 trawlers that fished in marine protected areas worldwide in 2024.

Trawling is one of the worst fishing techniques,[1] and scientists are clear: if marine protected areas are essential to protect the ocean, it is urgent to really protect them by banning trawling. The lack of commitment from governments on this issue is irresponsible. In mainland France, less than 0.1% of waters are truly protected.[2] By publishing the red list of vessels, BLOOM is calling on supermarkets to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards trawling in marine protected areas. Carrefour, Leclerc, Intermarché and their peers now have an infallible tool to ensure that their purchases do not contribute to the destruction of marine protected areas.

 

Trawling is one of the worst fishing techniques in existence

Many scientists are denouncing the silent destruction wrought by this fishing technique. All trawlers, especially those over 12 metres long, have a deleterious social and ecological impact. In 2024, our report Time for a U-turn unveiled the first assessment of the ecological, social and economic performance of French fisheries. It demonstrated the overwhelming responsibility of coastal pelagic trawls and seines for the decline in biomass: 84% of their landings come from overfished populations. According to the same study, industrial and deep-sea bottom trawls emit half of the CO2 emissions from French fisheries. In social terms, all industrial pelagic trawls generate 10 times fewer jobs per tonne of fish landed than the fleet of coastal nets, lines and traps. The profitability of trawls is also artificial, largely dependent on public subsidies.

Decades of relentless fishing have emptied the ocean, our most precious ally against climate change

The ocean is an essential pillar of our planet: it produces our oxygen, regulates the climate, captures carbon and is home to exceptional biodiversity. Yet today it is in a critical state, depleted and brought to the brink of collapse by relentless fishing for profit. In 2019, scientists from the IPBES (the IPCC for biodiversity) recognised that fishing is the main factor in the degradation of the ocean. In fifty years, the state of the ocean has fallen dramatically:

• 90% of large fish have disappeared from the North Atlantic since 1950 (Christensen et al., 2003);
• Since 1970, the number of oceanic sharks and rays worldwide has fallen by 71% as a result of an 18-fold increase in relative fishing pressure (Pacoureau et al., 2021);
• More than 90% of our oceans are exploited to their full capacity or beyond (Teh et al., 2017);

• Today, the world’s fishing industry exploits an area four times larger than that used by agriculture (Kroodsma et al., 2018).

 

Marine protected areas were created to protect the ocean

IPCC and IPBES scientists explicitly recommend the establishment of a coherent network of marine protected areas representative of the diversity of ecosystems to increase the resilience of the ocean and preserve its functions as a climate regulator. In 2010, for the first time, the international community adopted a target along these lines: the Aichi Targets, which aimed to protect 10% of the world’s oceans by 2020. At COP15 in 2022, faced with the inaction of governments and the continuing collapse of biodiversity, the scientific community pushed for this ambition to be raised. The international community then set itself a target of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. Unfortunately, this international ambition has resulted in the emergence of “paper” marine protected areas, which are protected in name only. In fact, according to scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a marine protected area is forbidden to any infrastructure or industrial activity, including trawling. However, this is not the definition used by the Member States. In mainland France, for example, less than 0.1% of waters are closed to trawling, compared with the 30% protection claimed by the government.

More than 1.6 million hours of trawling in MPAs by 2024

The red list of destructive vessels published by BLOOM today is yet another example of the failure of international ocean protection policy: in 2024, little less than 4,000 presumed trawlers fished more than 1.6 million hours and devastated more than 600,000 km² of protected areas around the world. And this figure is based on a limited amount of data. So it’s almost certainly an underestimate! Considering the extent of the damage caused by this fishing practice, even in areas designated to protect marine biodiversity, we are calling on supermarkets to take up the list below and commit to a true protection of the ocean.

>> Access the red list of vessels that have trawled in MPAs in 2024 <<

>> Read the red list methodology <<

Supermarkets are partly responsible and must commit to protecting the ocean

By turning a blind eye to the destructive nature of the fisheries from which they source their supplies, retailers are making us accomplices, through our fish purchases, in the decline of the ocean. Retailers can demand that their suppliers no longer sell them fish from fisheries that have trawled in marine protected areas. And this leverage is colossal. Supermarkets sell two-thirds of the fish in France, and six chains share 90% of the market. So each retailer alone has a huge influence on the fishing industry.

We are asking distributors to take advantage of this turnkey tool and :

1. Check whether vessels identified by BLOOM are part of their supply chain (for national and own-brand products);
2. Ensure that the vessels in question are actually trawlers (there is a risk of error due to the public databases used);
3. For all vessels identified in their supplies that trawl, even partially, in marine protected areas, require that these vessels no longer trawl in marine protected areas;
4. If the vessel or supplier refuses, undertake to stop purchasing from the vessels concerned.

We are also asking retailers to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on trawling in marine protected areas and to take the necessary measures, beyond this non-exhaustive red list (some vessels do not share their location data), to ensure that no vessels in their chain operate with trawls in marine protected areas worldwide.

 

[1] BLOOM, 2024, Time for a U turn, available here.

[2] BLOOM, 2022, Much ado about nothing, available here.