The UK government has proposed an extension of the ban on bottom trawling in 41 offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
The move will see the ban of bottom trawling – a controversial method of fishing that drags large nets along the seafloor – expanded from 18,000km2 to 48,000km2 (around 18,500 sq miles) of the UK’s offshore areas that are already designated as protected.
The plan is subject to a 12-week consultation. “A consultation will invite marine and fisheries stakeholders to share their views and evidence on the prohibition of destructive bottom-towed fishing gear that could affect approximately 30,000km2 spanning 41 MPAs,” says Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, in the statement.
The move has been welcomed by wildlife charities. “This is going to be good for nature, good for people, good for coastal communities,” says Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director and Vice President of Oceana in the UK. “We've had thousands and thousands of emails and letters going directly to Steve Reed calling for this,” particularly following the release of Ocean with David Attenborough, he says.
Recreational fishers were also pleased by the news, says Hannah Rudd, Head of Marine at the Angling Trust, which has been calling for a ban on bottom-towed gear in MPAs. “Protecting our marine environment isn’t just good for biodiversity, it underpins the future of sustainable fishing, including for low-impact commercial fishing to the millions of sea anglers and hundreds of charter boat businesses along our coastline who rely on healthy fish stocks and thriving coastal waters,” she says.
However, some commercial fishers have expressed concern. In a statement, the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) described the proposal as “an astonishing attack on fishermen and coastal communities,” saying that the ban “will cause huge hardship to fishermen and their families.”
Sarah Coulthard, senior lecturer in marine social science at Newcastle University, stresses the importance of differentiating between trawling bans in habitats vulnerable to that type of fishing from blanket bans.
The government must also consider the impact of a widespread ban on the UK’s fishing community, she says: “A priority, which the consultation should deliver, is to understand and mitigate as much as possible the impacts that reduced fishing grounds would have on our hard-working fishing communities who already face multiple pressures and lack of space to fish in the sea, for example from wind farms and other marine uses.”
She warns against demonising bottom trawling and reminds us that the fishing community is part of the solution. “Fishermen are human beings, an important part of our coastal communities and their livelihoods matter,” she says.
Coulthard also highlights that, inshore, there are already examples of effective management measures thanks to England’s Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) which protect MPAs within six nautical miles of the coastline.
“In the inshore areas we have worked hard with coastal communities to ensure that, where compatible with the objectives of protected areas, fishing can continue,” says Robert Clark, Chief Officer of the Association of IFCA. “We have achieved this balanced approach by working with the local community, assessing each sites objectives, gathering further evidence and, where necessary introducing both spatial and temporal restrictions on differing types of fishing gears.”
The 12-week consultation will run until September. During this time, stakeholders are invited to share their views on the proposed measures.
Ocean with David Attenborough is currently screening at UK cinemas.
Main image: UK waters. Credit: Getty
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