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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of bottom trawling within protected areas for harbour porpoises and seabirds on the Government's ecosystem-based approach to marine management.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) consulted last year on fisheries byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in a further 41 Marine Protected Areas. These proposals are substantial, covering 30,000 square kilometres or 13% of English waters and we must ensure we get them right. The MMO is carefully considering the very large number of responses received to the consultation, and decisions will be made in due course.

Internationally, we remain a leading advocate for ambitious ocean action. We continue to share the lessons we are learning from our UK experience through our membership of key alliances, whilst our scientific expertise, international finance and technical assistance continues to deliver real impact globally.