Labour urged to act to stop damaging and destructive type of fishing

Damaging fishing practices such as bottom trawling – dragging a net across the seabed to catch fish – should be banned in certain protected areas of England’s waters, Labour has been warned. MPs have called on ministers to ban activities that damage the seabed, which also include dredging and mining, in offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

The Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said it was “concerned the protection of the ocean is not demonstrably a priority for the Government”. Toby Perkins, chairman of the EAC, said: “UK waters are teeming with complex ecosystems that are not only precious in their own right but also critical to sustaining the delicate balance of marine life. Ministers must ensure that Marine Protected Areas live up to their name.

“Activities with the potential to seriously damage marine environments, such as bottom trawling, risk slipping through the regulatory net. While such activities do not need to be banned everywhere, in areas where marine life is most at threat we need to take more advanced action.”

The Government has in recent years established 178 MPAs covering nearly 900,000 square kilometres of English waters.

But these areas are multi-use, meaning that activities that damage the environment can take place if they do not directly impact the specified protected features.

Mr Perkins said: “Ministers have all the information they need to press ahead with banning bottom trawling in the offshore protected areas where it presents the most risk.

"Why the delay? Our oceans cannot afford any more prevarication. It is time to act. Doing so would send a clear signal ahead of this month’s UN Oceans Conference that the UK is serious about protecting valuable ecosystems in our waters.