Marine Protected Areas: Fishing Vessels

(asked on 20th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many supertrawlers were given permission to fish in UK Marine Protected Areas in the last year for which data are available.


Answered by
Mark Spencer Portrait
Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 10th January 2023

We are considering our policies for large-scale pelagic vessels or ‘supertrawlers’ and working with industry to develop more robust management of the non-quota species which these vessels are targeting alongside quota stocks. Any action needs to be evidence-based and in line with the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. However, these trawlers operate by targeting shoals of fish in the mid-upper water column and do not touch the seabed. This means that they are unlikely to damage the seabed habitats, such as reef and sediment habitats, that most Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated to protect.

Marine regulators assess on a site-by-site basis which fishing activities could prevent MPAs from achieving their conservation objectives. Byelaws are developed using an evidence-led process to determine what management is required to protect sites and to not restrict non-damaging fishing. 60% of our 178 English MPAs are already protected from damaging fishing activity, including byelaws this year in the first four offshore sites, which ban bottom towed gear over sensitive habitats. We are aiming to have all MPAs in English waters protected from damaging fishing activity by 2024.

Reticulating Splines