1-2 of 2 results for subject:Dredging
Librarians' tools
- Search time
- 0.271 seconds
- Solr query time
- 0.002 seconds
- Search query
- subject:Dredging
- We searched for
- subject_t:Dredging OR subject_ses:9717
Type
House
Session
Year
Department
Member
Primary member
More
Answering member
Legislative stage
Legislation
Subject
Publisher
To ask His Majesty’s Government when they plan to prohibit bottom trawling and dredging in all English marine protected areas.
To ask His Majesty’s Government when they plan to prohibit bottom trawling and dredging in all English marine protected areas.
My Lords, 60% of English marine protected areas are protected by by-laws that limit the use of damaging fishing gear. On Monday 9 June, the Secretary of State announced that the Marine Management Organisation was starting a consultation on proposed by-laws to protect a further 42 MPAs. This substantial package would ban bottom trawling and shellfish dredging over 30,000 square kilometres—that is 13% of English waters. It is a significant step in preserving marine ecosystems through targeted action.
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. I very much welcome last week’s announcement that progress will be made in marine protected areas, as currently 90% of the UK’s MPAs remain open to bottom trawling. Does the Minister agree that, given the state of fish stocks, this is an important move to ensure that fishing has a sustainable future? Following the consultation, I hope to see a swift implementation; can he give more detail on the timeframe for that?
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. I very much welcome last week’s announcement that progress will be made in marine protected areas, as currently 90% of the UK’s MPAs remain open to bottom trawling. Does the Minister agree that, given the state of fish stocks, this is an important move to ensure that fishing has a sustainable future? Following the consultation, I hope to see a swift implementation; can he give more detail on the timeframe for that?
My Lords, I welcome the noble Baroness’s welcome of the announcement; it is an important step forward in a long-term plan properly to protect our marine ecosystems and environment while enabling fishing. We have had to very carefully considered the next steps to manage bottom trawling in MPAs, along with other fishing methods, in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations. It is important that we get this right and the proposed by-laws are very substantial: they will close 13% of English waters to bottom trawling, which will be critical to protect our MPAs. We want to move at pace, but I will not set out a precise timeline because it is important that we see the consultation through first.