Dogger Bank
Restoring degraded habitats in the Dogger Bank to support marine biodiversity, rebuild reef systems, and secure long-term ecological resilience in the North Sea.
The Dogger Bank is a shallow sandbank spanning 2.5 million hectares across UK, Dutch, German, and Danish waters. It is the beating heart of the North Sea, functioning as a nursery for sharks, rays, cod, and herring, and a feeding ground for seals, porpoises, whales, and seabirds. Despite being legally protected, the Bank remains in poor condition due to centuries of bottom trawling, oil and gas extraction, and intensive shipping. The Dogger Bank project aims to restore ecological integrity and secure lasting protection for this unique seascape.
Doggerland Foundation
Dogger Bank, North Sea
United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark
Ongoing since 2025
2.5 million ha
Horse mussel, harbour porpoise, seals, sharks, rays
Submerged sandbanks, shellfish reefs
Why this place matters
The Dogger Bank functions as a nursery and feeding ground for harbour porpoises, minke whales, grey seals, gannets, puffins and other seabirds that come to feed on sandeel and other fish.
The Dogger Bank is one of the most productive areas of the North Sea. Its shallow seabed supports spawning grounds for fish, nursery areas for sharks and rays, and feeding habitat for seals, whales, and seabirds such as gannets and puffins. Once home to thriving horse mussel and ocean quahog reefs, it provided the foundation for rich and diverse marine life.
But centuries of intensive trawling have stripped away seabed habitats and caused the collapse of key fish populations including haddock, halibut, and cod. Oil and gas extraction, offshore wind farms, and shipping continue to add pressure, leaving the Bank’s condition classed as “very unfavourable.” Yet with recent closures to bottom-contact fishing in UK waters, there is a real opportunity for large-scale ecological recovery.
Action on the ground
The Dogger Bank project is combining legal action, species restoration, and cultural change to revive the North Sea’s largest sandbank.
Challenging Dutch and German governments in court to secure full closure of their sections to bottom trawling.
Taking legal action to strengthen management plans and enforce conservation measures.
Developing a body of knowledge from Dogger Bank as a blueprint for securing genuine protection in marine protected areas worldwide.
Establishing the School of Dogger Bank, an interdisciplinary hub connecting scientists, artists, policymakers, and communities to reframe the North Sea as an ecosystem with intrinsic rights.
Creating and monitoring two experimental horse mussel reef sites to test methods for restoring shellfish reefs.
Visit the Dogger Bank website
First 15,000 horse mussels placed on Dogger Bank in restoration trial
Dutch court ruling challenges bottom trawling in Dogger Bank
Restoring the Dogger Bank’s submerged world
