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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing incentives to support new and alternative fishing gears, to reduce the damage to blue carbon sediments and habitats.

Marine sediments are important areas of carbon storage. Trawling can cause carbon dioxide to be released from sediments, but the processes are complex and the overall impact of trawling on carbon dioxide release remains uncertain. We continue to build the evidence base on blue carbon habitats in the UK, including marine sediments.

We are working with the fishing sector and other stakeholders to consider how best to reduce the potential impact of fishing gears on the seabed, including looking at innovation in fish gears and methods. We are working with Fisheries Funding Teams to see how we can best use the UK Seafood Fund to help reduce the environmental effects of bottom trawling through support for evidence, innovation and adaption.