More than nine out of ten Portuguese (96%) agree that delimiting marine protected areas defends biodiversity and almost three quarters (74%) condemn bottom trawling, according to a survey published today.
The survey by environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Oceana and Seas at Risk shows that, on average in the seven European Union (EU) member states in which it was carried out, nine out of ten citizens (90%) believe that marine protected areas are a necessary tool to protect marine biodiversity.
With regard to the practice of bottom trawling, the NGO survey shows that the Portuguese are the ones who most support the need to adopt tighter rules for bottom trawling (93%), with the average of the seven countries included in the survey being 82%, with the Netherlands at the bottom of the table (75%).
A ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas garners support from 73% of the average, with Portugal again leading the way (80%) and the Netherlands showing the lowest support (57%).
In addition to Portugal, citizens of Germany, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden were included in the survey, while France, the EU country with the largest fishing fleet, was excluded.
According to Sapience, which conducted the surveys, to ensure statistical reliability and representativeness, a minimum of 1,000 respondents per country were included.
The data was weighted within each country to obtain a national representation in terms of age, gender and region.
