Marine Protected Areas: Bottom Trawling
(asked on 29th January 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will prohibit bottom-towed fishing gear in all 41 Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by
Emma Hardy
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 4th February 2026
The consultation on the latest round of proposed fisheries byelaws, which proposes further restrictions on bottom trawling in 41 of England’s offshore Marine Protected Areas, closed on 29 September. The Marine Management Organisation is now carefully considering all responses received, and decisions will be made in due course.