Electric fishing: why it's banned and what damage it causes

It's not at all selective, as some would have you believe. Fish are tortured and killed indiscriminately. And the ocean floor is at risk of destruction.

di |
sustainable fishing

Deadly electric fishing is banned in several countries around the world, including European Union nations, including Italy. The law, definitively approved by the European Parliament in 2019, effectively came into force in 2021. Yet, despite the regulations, it is still often practiced illegally, or even legally, in large countries from Australia to China, from Brazil to the United States.

Electric fishing involves the use of devices that emit electrical pulses into the water, with the aim of stunning fish without seriously harming them. Typically, these devices consist of rods or electrodes immersed in water, which emit electrical pulses. Once stunned, the fish are easier to catch.

But what are the reasons that classify electric fishing as unsustainable and harmful?

  • Alteration of the natural habitat. Electric fishing doesn't have a single target; it strikes blindly, and the electrical pulses also stun other marine species, including invertebrates, crustaceans, and other life forms that may not be targeted by the fishing. Or perhaps they are prohibited. All of this can alter the ecological balance of the affected areas.
  • A torture for fish: Electrofishing causes long-term stress and damage, affecting the ability of fish to reproduce or survive in the long term.
  • It is not selective fishing at all, as they would have us believe. Indeed. According to calculations by the French NGO Bloom, between 50 and 70 percent of fish are discarded and thrown back into the sea. Dead.
  • Electric shocks can cause long-term damage to seabed sediments and marine ecosystems. A kind of marine fracking.

Read also:

Want to see a selection of our news?

Don't Waste