Marine Protected Areas: Fishing Vessels
(asked on 18th February 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, whether his Department has any plans to limit bottom trawling in marine protected waters.
Answered by
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The UK is at the forefront of marine protection with 372 protecting 38% of UK waters. Management measures now protect sensitive features from bottom towed fishing gears in 98 of English inshore MPAs. We are also developing an ambitious three-year programme for assessing sites and implementing appropriate byelaws to manage fishing activity in all English offshore MPAs.