The Dogger Bank in the North Sea is protected as a Natura 2000 site. Ecologically considered "the heart of the North Sea", its nearly 18,000 km² area serves as a nursery ground and a unique habitat for numerous species.
The United Kingdom closed its portion of the Dogger Bank, which constitutes two-thirds of the total area, to bottom trawling four years ago. Following an agreement with the European Union, the Netherlands and Germany finally regulated their respective sectors six months ago: consequently, approximately half of the German Dogger Bank marine protected area (around 1,700 km² within the so-called "Entenschnabel" of the German Exclusive Economic Zone) and nearly one-third of the Dutch Dogger Bank are now closed to bottom trawling.
On 11 May 2026, the District Court of The Hague ruled that this prohibition must be strictly enforced: a general exemption for this fishing technique granted to Dutch fishers does not apply within the protected Natura 2000 site of the Dogger Bank. Exemptions based on environmental compatibility certificates do not exist—and are indeed scarcely conceivable, given that ecologically harmless bottom trawling does not exist.
As a result, the ban applies without exception: bottom trawling is thus categorically and effectively prohibited there for all Dutch cutters.
The responsible minister, Erkens, was ordered by the court to effectively enforce the ban within six weeks.
It remains to be seen whether the executive branch in the Netherlands will implement the judicial rulings, and likewise, whether this legal assessment of the German sector of the Dogger Bank will be shared by the German judiciary and authorities.
We will continue to monitor the situation.
