Oceana UK calls for ban on "destructive" fishing across marine protected areas
Two of the most exploited areas of bottom trawling happened off the coast of Cornwall
An ocean conservation group in the UK is calling for urgent political action to ban bottom trawling across all marine protected areas.
Figures from Oceana UK reveal 'protected' areas were subject to 33,000 hours of 'destructive' forms of fishing, the equivalent of nearly four years in 2023. Two of the most exploited marine protected areas were in the coast of Cornwall.
The new analysis reveals just 10 fishing vessels were responsible for over a quarter of harmful suspected bottom trawling in UK offshore marine protected areas.
Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director of Oceana UK, said: "Our marine ‘protected’ areas are crisscrossed with the scars of this highly destructive form of fishing, which may take decades to heal. These areas are vital havens for ocean wildlife and protect us against the climate crisis. Everything from sharks to starfish are hoovered up by bottom trawling, which can destroy whole ecosystems and empty our seas of life.
"This also threatens communities seeking to make a sustainable living from our seas. The government must act now to ban this destructive practice from all our marine protected areas. Anything less is a complete betrayal of our ocean wildlife, which urgently need sanctuaries that are safe from this wholesale destruction."
New analysis of satellite data from Global Fishing Watch shows that over 100,000 hours of apparent industrial fishing took place within the UK’s offshore marine protected areas in 2023 – of which 33,000 hours were from vessels carrying destructive bottom-towed gear, such as bottom trawls and dredges.
The form of fishing has been described to have an extremely high rate of bycatch of untargeted wildlife. Despite this, it is permitted in almost all UK MPAs.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are designated to protect rare, threatened or important ocean habitats and species to ensure healthy marine environments.
The latest data indicates that industrial bottom-trawl vessels continue to drag heavy metal gear and nets – which can be as large as a football field and weigh several tonnes – across the seafloor in supposed marine sanctuaries.
The two most exploited sites were both located off the coast of Cornwall. The Western Channel MPA is made up of underwater sand dunes that are home to wildlife ranging from the small-spotted cat shark to the angler fish. It performs a vital role by bringing nutrients from cooler, deeper waters to the surface, stimulating food chains that support an abundance of ocean life.
Oceana UK is calling for decisive political action on destructive fishing, urging all political parties to commit to a complete ban on bottom trawling across all marine protected areas. Polling by Oceana has shown that more than three quarters of the UK public support such a ban.
The UK Government is set to begin a consultation on proposed measures for the majority of England’s remaining offshore MPAs this spring; during which Oceana will continue to push for stronger measures that protect MPAs in their entirety.
In line with legal pressure from Oceana in 2021, the UK Government has committed to restricting bottom trawling in the UK’s offshore MPAs, and has been introducing byelaws to protect certain features – such as reefs – within MPAs on a site-by-site basis, with the latest of these due to come into force on 22 March 2024.
The introduction of these byelaws is an important step, but this limited restriction still leaves the vast majority of the UK’s protected areas open to this harmful practice.