The European Commission sells out to the tuna industry

06 May 2026

For the second year running, the member States of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the intergovernmental body responsible for managing migratory tuna stocks in these warm waters, will not address the thorny issue of the destructive fishing gear favoured by European industrialists: ‘fish aggregating devices’ (FADs), deployed by the tens of thousands every year in the Indian Ocean and responsible for large-scale marine pollution as well as the destruction of vulnerable marine biodiversity, including silky and oceanic whitetip sharks, sea turtles, and manta rays. This fishing gear, criticised by many Indian Ocean coastal States but used extensively by European, exclusively Spanish and French fishing, fleets, are not on the agenda of the meeting taking place from 11 to 15 May in Malé, Maldives, even though their environmental impacts have been the subject of heated debate every year since 2012, with the exception of 2025. It is no coincidence that this ecological issue has been pushed to the side of public debate: it is the result of determined manoeuvres by the European Commission (which represents the EU at the IOTC) to defend some of the world’s most impactful and controversial fishing practices.

BLOOM, having won a first legal battle against the European Commission’s anti-democratic actions, reveals today, in an exclusive analysis entitled “European Com(pro)mission”, that 50% of the EU’s official delegations to the IOTC are made up of industrial fishing lobbyists! Our study also compares the official delegations with one another, demonstrating that, through the sheer size of its delegation, the EU behaves as a neo-colonial power, overwhelming the representation of countries from the Global South.

>>>READ THE FULL REPORT<<<

BLOOM holds observer status at the IOTC and will be on site to monitor negotiations concerning one of the world’s most valuable fisheries.

Whilst States are preparing for the next Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) meeting from 11 to 15 May in Malé, Maldives – the appropriate body to put a stop to the overfishing of tropical tuna and the decline in marine biodiversity – European fishing industries can rest easy: no draft resolution on drifting ‘fish aggregating devices’ (FADs) will be put to the vote for the second year running. Behind the scenes, the European Commission, with the full support of France and Spain, has been working hand in hand with the industrial tuna fishing lobbies for years to defend their interests, in defiance of European environmental law and the rights of African coastal States.

The damning figures of a European delegation infiltrated by the fishing industry

BLOOM’s new report reveals that, since 2016, the EU delegation has been by far the largest at the IOTC and that 50% of its members actually represent the interests of industrial fishing, notably the French-Spanish tuna fishery, which relies on the uncontrolled use of an extremely environmentally destructive fishing method known as a fish aggregating device (FAD). These same representatives also sit on the delegations of the Seychelles, Mauritius and Tanzania, thereby multiplying their influence over the negotiations.

This is not influence; it is institutional capture. The presence of private interests within diplomatic delegations blurs the line between the public interest and economic interests, giving them direct influence over the Union’s position.

But the story does not end there: in November 2022, BLOOM and French anti-corruption NGO Anticor reported to the French Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) that a senior French civil servant had been seconded to Orthongel, the French tuna lobby, which had subsequently seconded her to Europêche, the main industrial fishing lobby at European level. This same person now serves as an observer for Europêche at the IOTC.

As this individual’s secondment to the tuna lobby was renewed in 2025, BLOOM and Anticor are considering whether to submit further evidence to the case opened by the Prosecutor’s Office. Indeed, a new document obtained by BLOOM (1) confirms this: the tuna lobbies openly welcome this recruitment, praising this individual’s “in-depth understanding of the decision-making process in tuna fisheries policy”, setting as her priority objective the weakening of the European regulatory framework during the revision of the Fisheries Control Regulation (2), with the aim of securing the cancellation of an infringement procedure opened by the European Commission’s legal services against France for breaching this regulation. The president of Europêche concurs: “We are delighted to have Ms Mattlet on the Europêche team. Her experience and expertise in tuna fishing will undoubtedly be a valuable asset for our companies on the international stage.” There is no longer any boundary between the French State and the tuna industry it is supposed to regulate. This institutionalised collusion has already ‘paid off’ for the fishing industry, as the European fisheries control regulation has effectively been watered down to the explicit benefit of tropical tuna vessels.

Will the European Commission be forced to reveal its links with the tuna industry?

In 2023, a coalition of Indian Ocean coastal States achieved the feat of imposing, through a historic vote at the IOTC, a 72-day annual ban on FADs in the Indian Ocean. The European Commission’s response was immediate: it lodged an objection. Eleven members including France, the EU itself and Kenya, under financial pressure from the EU, followed suit, scuppering the resolution before it even came into force.

In response to this denial of democratic principles, BLOOM initially asked the Commission to withdraw its objection. In response, the Commission simply dismissed our appeal without even examining it, declaring it inadmissible. BLOOM therefore brought the matter before the General Court of the European Union. In July 2025, the General Court ruled in our favour and ordered the Commission to consider our appeal and respond to it on its merits.  Seeing this judgment as a dangerous precedent that could force the European Union to take environmental considerations into account in its external action — which would prevent it from protecting the most harmful industrial fishing practices — the European Commission immediately lodged an appeal with the Court of Justice of the EU to seek a new ruling. The final judgement, which will leave no room for appeal, is expected by the end of 2026. If the Court upholds the General Court’s decision, the Commission will then be forced to justify, on the merits and with rational arguments, its unwavering support for FADs — a neo-colonial, irrational and indefensible position, stemming from the opaque and anti-democratic ties that bind the Commission to industrial interests, and which the Commission has been careful not to explain since the start of the legal proceedings.

“The European Commission’s support for FADs makes no sense. It would be unthinkable for such a method to be deployed in European waters, and yet the Commission not only authorises it, but staunchly supports it in the Indian Ocean… because it’s ‘Africa’! This is an extremely aggressive neo-colonial stance,” states Frédéric Le Manach, scientific director at BLOOM, who will be present at the IOTC meeting as an observer.

>>>READ THE FULL REPORT<<<

NOTES

(1) Available on the BLOOM website.

(2) In English: “The amendment proposed by Europêche in 2021 (to apply the margin of tolerance to the total quantity retained on board) will be defended by the ‘tuna group’.”

(3) Read our summary of events.

(4) Judgement of 23 July 2025, available here.