As of the summer of 2022, there is a total ban on bottom trawling in two Marine Protected Areas, Fladen and Lilla Middelgrund, in the Kattegat sea.

In 2009 Greenpeace placed granite blocks on the seabed around Fladen and Lilla Middelgrund as protection against bottom trawling.
This action was then followed up by Greenpeace submitting a formal complaint to the European Commission about the lack of protection in Swedish Natura 2000 areas.
The Fladen and Lilla Middelgrund areas are home to porpoises and endangered Swedish shark species such as spiny shark and small spotted red shark, and here there is a completely unique bottom fauna with reef-forming horse mussels and Sweden's only known bubble reef.

In August 2022 a Greenpeace team follows up with a dive expedition to Fladen from onboard the sailing ship SY Witness to try to find and document the state of the boulders today – 13 years later.