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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his response to my noble friend Lady Carnegy of Lour. I take issue with him on one matter; Clause 149(2)(a) is clearly a satisfactory paragraph, because the exploitation of sea fisheries has to be carried out in a sustainable way. However, unlike fisheries, the standard for protecting the marine environment is different. The word "sustainable" is not to be found in paragraph (b), nor is the supremacy of biodiversity over social and economic benefits, which, I take it, is what this Bill is all about. Its main intention is, fundamentally, to protect biodiversity, otherwise we would not need the Bill at all—there would be no point in it. In my respectful submission, Clause 149(2)(b) gets the matter entirely wrong. It is not a question of balancing, but one of hierarchies.