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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Benyon Review Into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), if he will take steps to ensure that, as in the case of motorised boating, scuba diving, surfing, and personal watercraft, recreational anglers will continue to have access to HPMAs and not be excluded along with mineral extraction, dredging, commercial fishing; and if he will make a statement.

We welcome the publication of the Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) on 8 June 2020, which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highly-protected-marine-areas-hpmas-review-2019. We will consider Richard Benyon's report and issue a formal response to him in due course. The panel recommended that HPMAs would represent the upper end of environmental protection and should exclude all extractive activity, including recreational sea angling, to allow for full ecosystem recovery.

Defra recognises the importance of recreational sea angling to the economy, its benefits to the health and welfare of society, and the contribution anglers and angling bodies make to environmental improvements. We appreciate and understand the concerns raised by the recreational sea anglers since publication of the Benyon Review. We note that the report describes the opportunities that could arise as a result of HPMA introduction, including for recreational fisheries, such as spillover for anglers in adjacent areas. In introducing HPMAs, we note the Panel's recommendation to designate pilot sites by placing them within existing Marine Protected Areas. We would consider the socio-economic impact of HPMAs on all sectors, including recreational sea angling, before any decision to designate a site. Extensive consultation will take place before any decisions are made.