Last month, we celebrated five years of the Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition. Since launching in 2021 with a small group of founding organisations, we’ve grown into a network of 151 members across more than 49 countries, helping put the destructive impacts of bottom trawling and the rights of small-scale fishers firmly on the international agenda.
A huge thank you to every member, grantee, partner, donor and community champion who has made this possible. We’ve been spotlighting member organisations on LinkedIn throughout the month, so please like, share and celebrate with us to spread the word.
In this issue: grantee updates from India, Kenya and The Gambia, plus news from Rome to Alaska on how bottom trawling is rising up the political agenda, including a groundbreaking investigation linking bottom trawling to fishmeal and fishoil plants.
Groundbreaking investigation: Where does a bottom trawler’s catch go?
Often, it’s ground into fishmeal. Even locally-consumed species swept up by trawl nets are sold to fishmeal plants and turned into feed for farmed shrimp and salmon.
Food for Feed, a five-year investigation by The Outlaw Ocean Project launched today, maps 1,400 fishmeal and fish oil factories in 64 countries. It documents what they cost the people around them: lost livelihoods, food insecurity, forced labour, pollution, illegal fishing and their links with the bottom trawling industry. More than a fifth of all marine life taken from the ocean now ends up as feed or other non-food products.
Fishmeal gives bottom trawlers a buyer for catch that would otherwise be worthless to them. Often that catch comes from the inshore waters small-scale fishers rely on. If we want to transform bottom trawling, we need to know where that catch ends up. You can trace the supply chain on the Bait to Plate website.
Grants programme updates
Dakshin Foundation, India
In India, Dakshin has been building a network of diverse stakeholders across the fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) value chain to foster shared stewardship and support a more sustainable and transparent sector. With the support of the TBT Coalition, they are now establishing the Blue Food Futures (BFF) Coalition to address the challenges small-scale fishers face in sustaining their livelihoods and securing access to fish for food across the Indian coast.
The coalition is building a shared vision for a more transparent and traceable value chain while informing policy discussions on the FMFO sector in India. Looking ahead, Dakshin will initiate a scoping exercise in the poultry sector, another important source of demand for FMFO, to better understand the sector’s role in driving demand for marine ingredients and the implications of diverting fish that could otherwise contribute to local food and nutritional security.
Mariners For Action, Kenya: What happens when we put the experiences of fishers at the centre of fisheries management?
On 18 August, Mariners for Action, brought together artisanal fishers and other fisheries value chain actors at Marereni Hall to talk about the impacts of bottom trawling on their fishing grounds, livelihoods and the marine ecosystems they depend on. Fishers from different landing sites mapped areas where they have observed bottom trawling, areas where industrial and small-scale fishing activities overlap, and places where they are seeing conflicts and declining fish stocks. A lot of knowledge sits within these communities. The question is, how do we make sure this knowledge is not just heard, but actually informs the decisions being made about our fisheries? The conversations at Marereni were a reminder that addressing bottom trawling is not just about enforcement. It is also about livelihoods, access to fishing grounds, community participation, evidence and how we make decisions about our marine resources.
Community Action for Nature Conservation, Kenya: CANCO Connects Fishing Communities with Senators on Land Rights in Kilifi
On 22 September, Community Action for Nature Conservation (CANCO)’s Mombasa team participated in the Senate Mashinani Programme in Kilifi County engaging with Senators on issues affecting small-scale fishing communities. During the session, five BMU representatives raised concerns about insecure tenure over fish landing sites and restricted access due to encroachment by private developers.
In response, Senator Faki, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Land and Natural Resources, directed the Kilifi County Executive Committee Member for Lands to compile a list of affected landing sites for submission to the Senate Committee and committed to following up personally. The engagement provided CANCO with an opportunity to strengthen connections with national decision-makers and advance continued advocacy for fishing communities’ access to and tenure over their landing sites.
The engagement marked an important step in connecting community level concerns with national legislative processes. For CANCO, it provided an opportunity to strengthen relationships with Senators and support continued advocacy for the protection of fishing communities’ access to and tenure over their landing sites.
CETAG, The Gambia
In The Gambia, CETAG is working closely with coastal communities through the Transform Bottom Trawling Project to strengthen local efforts to protect small-scale fisheries. So far, 30 community volunteers have been trained to monitor and report suspected bottom trawling within the 9-nautical-mile zone and at local fish landing sites, while more than 100 fishers, community leaders, women involved in fish processing and marketing, landing-site administrators, and traders have strengthened their knowledge of fisheries monitoring.
Past and Upcoming events
The coming months offer important opportunities to advance discussions on sustainable fisheries and ocean protection.
- October:
- Make Fishing Fair Youth Summit – On 12–13 October, young fishers, shellfish gatherers and community advocates from across Europe gathered in Brussels to launch the Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) Youth Network, creating a united platform to ensure that young people have a stronger voice in the decisions affecting their livelihoods and coastal communities. Read more here.
- The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) will be held from 19–30 October in Armenia. Convening 196 Parties every two years to set international biodiversity targets and review progress, this session marks the first global review against the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – a key moment given the Framework’s marine and coastal targets. Stay tuned as we hear from small-scale fishers members of the coalition about their role and solutions to reach the biodiversity targets.
- November:
- The 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9–20 November 2026.
- Street Whale 2026 in Libreville, Gabon: We are pleased to be supporting Street Whale 2026, taking place in Libreville, Gabon from 11–14 November. Street Whale brings together marine conservation organisations, researchers, communities, governments, funders and other key actors from across Central Africa to strengthen collaboration and advance practical solutions for the protection of the region’s extraordinary marine and coastal ecosystems. We are excited to support the participation of Renatura Congo, the Réseau des Femmes Mareyeuses et Transformatrices des Produits Halieutiques au Congo (AWFISNET Congo), l’Association La Bouée Couronne, TUBE AWU, and PLACRECAM (AWFISHNET Cameroon) at Street Whale 2026. We are also organising a TBT Coalition side event, providing an opportunity for our grantees’ (TUBE AWU, ABC, AWFISHNET and AMCO) to share experiences and explore practical approaches to addressing industrial bottom trawling.
News from around the world
Small Scale Fisheries Summit
The Third Small-Scale Fisheries Summit (SSF Summit 2026) was held at FAO headquarters in Rome from 4 to 6 September. Convened by FAO with international organisations and small-scale fisheries networks, it reviewed progress on the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) and set joint priorities for the years ahead. Coalition member MCD Vietnam shared a full account of the meeting that you can read here.
UN FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI)
At the UN FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in Rome later in September, Ghana and Venezuela highlighted the value of their bottom trawling bans for small-scale fishers and the environment in plenary sessions. Several Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition member organisations attended and heard delegates from Ghana, Brazil, and India push for small-scale fisher inclusion and recognition across multiple agenda items, including the latest SOFIA report, climate change and elevating small-scale fisheries contributions to food security, nutrition and livelihood support. COFI members also reconfirmed the importance of the Small-Scale Fisheries Summit as a key global platform for small-scale fisheries, encouraging its continuation every two years.
EU Ocean Act: Lessons from Ghana
Ghana’s CaFGOAG and Portugal’s André Dias were featured in POLITICO last week, urging EU leaders to listen to small-scale fishers as Europe prepares its Ocean Act. Amid continued debate over marine spaces, the question of who leads and shapes action has never been more critical to answer. The European Union’s (EU) Ocean Act presents a crucial opportunity to change the future of Europe’s seas equitably and sustainably, and lessons can be learnt from small-scale fishers thousands of kilometers away in West Africa. Read here.
Consultation for marine protection in Scotland
The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on proposed fisheries management measures for 76 Marine Protected Areas and 90 Priority Marine Feature management areas, focusing on habitats and species considered particularly vulnerable to bottom-contacting mobile fishing gear. If you have knowledge, experience or a stake in how these inshore waters are managed, this is an opportunity to have your voice heard. The Scottish Government is also running online and in-person engagement sessions to help people prepare their responses. Read more here.
90% of New Zealanders want bottom trawling restricted in some form
With New Zealand heading to the polls on 7 November, bottom trawling has emerged as a significant political issue, with growing public concern and pressure on political parties to commit to stronger ocean protection. Recent polling by WWF-New Zealand found that 90% of New Zealanders want bottom trawling restricted in some form. The issue is now gaining traction in election campaigning, with the Opportunity Party making restrictions on bottom trawling a condition of post-election coalition negotiations. As always, the debate around a total bottom trawling ban is complex, with important questions about fisheries, livelihoods and the transition to alternative fishing practices being discussed. Regardless of outcome, it is encouraging to see bottom trawling rise up the political agenda, demonstrating that the future of our oceans is an issue voters care about – and one that political leaders can no longer afford to ignore.
12 Italian-flagged trawlers active in Libyan waters
Libyan small-scale fishers are reporting sharply falling catches and pointing to industrial bottom trawling for deep-water shrimp further offshore, according to a new Dialogue Earth investigation. Vessel-tracking data and registries reviewed for the story showed 12 Italian-flagged trawlers active in Libyan waters between 2023 and 2025, with no public evidence that they held the required authorisation. Libya’s deputy minister of marine resources says the country would support extending the Mediterranean bottom trawling ban to waters deeper than 800 metres, and Egypt has begun prohibiting trawling beyond that depth. Experts stress that any new limit will only work with stronger monitoring and enforcement.
Ireland restricts large-scale trawling in its inshore waters
From 1 October 2026, vessels over 18 metres have been prohibited from trawling or seining inside Ireland’s six nautical mile zone and baselines. The measure was announced in July 2025 and given legal effect when Minister of State Timmy Dooley signed Policy Directive 1 of 2025 on 30 September 2025, following a public consultation. It is a significant step for small-scale fishers, and the latest example of a Member State restricting industrial access to its coastal waters.
The fish behind America’s fish sticks is fueling a fight over trawling in Alaska
Alaska’s pollock fishery, the source of fish sticks and the Filet-O-Fish, has become a flashpoint in the state’s elections. Salmon bycatch, collapsing river runs and seafloor damage have united Alaska Native communities, small-scale fishers and candidates across parties against trawling. Read more.
