Denmark and Germany have agreed to ban bottom trawling in Flensburg Fjord’s inner waters from 1 January 2027, extending restrictions intended to protect the seabed and the fjord’s marine environment.
The agreement means that mussel dredges and other bottom-contact fishing gear will no longer be permitted for mussel fishing in the inner part of the fjord. The measure required cooperation between Copenhagen and Berlin because fishing there is governed through joint Danish-German rules.
Bottom trawling in Flensburg Fjord will end in 2027
The ban on bottom trawling stems from Denmark’s 2023 marine spatial plan agreement, under which the government and a broad majority of parties in the Danish Parliament agreed to prohibit fishing with bottom-contact gear in Flensburg Fjord, Vejle Fjord and Kalø Vig.
Restrictions in Vejle Fjord and Kalø Vig entered into force on 1 July 2025. Denmark also adopted a ban covering the Danish section of Flensburg Fjord’s outer waters in July 2025, but action in the inner fjord depended on an agreement with Germany.
The Danish Ministry of Environment says the restrictions are intended to improve conditions for marine ecosystems and protect life on the seabed. Flensburg Fjord is considered to be in poor ecological condition and has also been affected by oxygen depletion.
Denmark and Germany had to agree on common rules
The cross-border nature of the fjord made the Flensburg restrictions more complicated than those introduced elsewhere in Denmark. The two countries have now agreed to amend their joint fishing regulations so that the same prohibition can apply in the inner fjord.
The Danish Environment Ministry plans to put the implementing regulation out for public consultation in October 2026. Once that process is completed, the ban is expected to take effect on 1 January 2027.
The measure forms part of a wider Danish effort to reduce the impact of bottom-contact fishing on sensitive marine habitats. Denmark is also pursuing restrictions in protected areas of the North Sea, where proposed bans must pass through cooperation with other EU member states and the European Commission.
