ROME — Hundreds of small Italian fishing boats from Venice to Porto Palo in Sicily drew up their nets on Tuesday to protest a European Union Council regulation regarding sustainable fishing in the Mediterranean that became fully effective on June 1.
The impact of the measures — which include the use of larger mesh sizes in nets and ban the use of trawl nets close to the coast — will deal a severe economic blow to European fishermen in the Mediterranean, critics of the plan say.
Besides Italy, Greece, France, Spain and Malta are also affected by the legislation, which was adopted in 2006. Exceptions to specific technical…