The report calls for a ban on destructive bottom-trawl fishing in marine protected areas
More than 1,000 harbour porpoises are dying in UK waters each year having been caught in fishing nets, according to conservationists(Image: PA)
A major report into the health of the sea in the Bristol Channel and its approaches has concluded by calling for a ban on destructive bottom-trawl fishing, which is damaging a special area of conservation for harbour porpoises.
The Bristol Channel Approaches is a special area of conservation (SAC) for harbour porpoises, but according to a new report from Oceana UK, severe harm is being done to the protected area by bottom-trawl fishing.
The report found that 113 marine protected areas across the UK’s water were created and designated to protect dolphins, porpoises, whales and seabirds. But out of all those 113, just two ban bottom-trawl fishing across the whole of their area.
In the Bristol Channel, the report found that the area of conservation is being affected by the fishing method, which has a destructive impact on the seabed, and from then, the marine habitat of the porpoises.
It means as well as the areas in the Bristol Channel where they swim being damaged, from off the coast of north Devon up through west Somerset and into the Severn Estuary, the porpoises are at increasing risk of getting tangled up in netting too.
“Currently, there are no UK marine protected areas (MPAs) designated for whales, dolphins or porpoises that are fully protected from bottom trawling across the whole site, and only two for seabirds,” the Oceana UK report has found.
“This is out of the total 113 MPAs that should be providing safe havens for these species, and only covers an area of sea the size of the Isle of Wight.
“The UK Government’s own assessments identify bottom trawling as a threat in 75% of these MPAs, although Oceana UK’s report brings together evidence of harm which indicates that to fully safeguard these species, all MPAs should be entirely free of this destructive type of fishing,” it added.
A map showing the Marine Protected Areas around the coast. The dotted line shows the 12-mile limit (Image: Joint Nature Conservation Committee )
The UK Government has committed to a public consultation on how to manage bottom trawling in five MPAs designated to protect seabirds and cetaceans, but Oceana UK said its report highlights that to fulfil their purpose, bottom trawling should be fully banned across these areas, the NGO says.
“Our report reveals that the deep harms caused by bottom trawling are not limited to life on the seabed,” said Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK.
“Harbour porpoises, puffins, terns and countless other animals need healthy habitats and abundant prey. The government simply cannot claim that these areas are protected while allowing destructive trawling inside them.
“Areas designated to protect some of our most iconic species are still allowing a destructive activity that the government’s own assessments identify as a threat. This raises a serious question about the credibility of the UK’s marine protection measures and the true extent of its ambitions.
Projection stunt on the white chalk cliffs of Botany Bay, Kent, overlooking a threatened wildlife sanctuary and calling for bottom trawling to be banned in all marine protected areas.(Image: Ollie Harrop / POW / Oceana UK)
“The UK has promised to effectively protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, but there is a risk of bold targets being reduced to little more than blue washing. If we are serious about meeting that commitment, protection must exist in practice not just on paper.”
Professor Emma Sheehan, a professor of Marine Ecology at the University of Plymouth, added her voice to the calls from Oceana UK.
“Bottom trawling harms seabirds and cetaceans in many ways, directly and indirectly,” she said. “Animals can become trapped in fishing gear, suffering an agonising death. But many of the impacts occur through changes to the wider ecosystem. Bottom trawling ravages habitats, removes prey and generates intense underwater noise.
“Seabirds and cetaceans sit near the top of marine food webs. Their survival depends on healthy ocean ecosystems. Marine protected areas are designed to conserve vital ecosystems and species and allowing bottom trawling within them undermines the very purpose of their designation,” she added.