Seabed bottom trawling, described by the chair of a Commons committee as a “destructive” fishing practice, will continue in English marine protected areas (MPAs), the government has announced.
Despite having official designation as protected areas for creatures including dolphins, puffins and seahorses, damaging industrial methods are still allowed to take place.
These include bottom trawling, the practice of dragging immense and heavy nets across the seabed to scoop up all in their path, most of which is discarded while more prized fish such as sole, cod and haddock are kept.
In a letter to the environment audit committee, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “The government’s policy is not to introduce whole-site bans on bottom-towed fishing gear in MPAs.
“Our approach is to only restrict fishing which is assessed as damaging to the specific protected features in each MPA.”
Defra called a blanket ban on trawling “disproportionate”, adding that it was consulting on bans on trawling in some MPAs.
Other countries are banning the practice. The EU has a goal to ban it in all its marine protected areas by 2030, Sweden has banned it, as has Greece. The lack of a ban in so-called “protected areas” has led to environmental groups referring to MPAs in the UK as “paper parks”.
The Commons committee has written to the new environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, asking her to reconsider a complete ban on bottom trawling within offshore MPAs and to clarify whether she will seek to ensure the government’s approach does not undermine the integrity of protected waters.
The issue became more prominent after being highlighted in a film by Sir David Attenborough released earlier this year to coincide with his 99th birthday.
It showed the barren destruction left in the wake of the trawlers, with areas that once thronged with fish, seahorses and other marine life decimated.
“The idea of bulldozing a rainforest causes outrage, yet we do the same underwater every day,” says Attenborough in the film. “Surely you would argue it must be illegal.”
The chair of the committee, Toby Perkins MP, said: “Bottom trawling is a destructive practice. We hugely welcome the government moving forward with banning it in more protected areas of our oceans.
“However, the committee is disappointed that the government has not committed to wider bans within marine protected areas which risk undermining the integrity of marine protected areas.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “Restoring our oceans to good health is essential for both nature and for fishing businesses.
“This government is taking decisive steps to ban bottom trawling when it is damaging protected seabeds, and our consultation makes clear how this would be implemented appropriately.”
