DAUK is concerned an outright ban on seabed bottom trawling in all UK marine protected areas has not been introduced.
Dr Matt Lee, DAUK’s sustainability lead, said it was pleasing the Government was widening protections from destructive fishing practices in the seas around the UK.
But he said it did not go far enough in protecting the UK’s seas and tackling the climate crisis threatening human health.
Bottom trawling
Earlier this year, the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) wrote an open letter to the Government calling for a ban. The letter set out links between human health and bottom trawling.
The Environmental Audit Committee recommended ministers push ahead with a ban in its report Governing the marine environment,
A few days after the report was published in June, the Government announced it would introduce a ban.
However, in its response to the Commons committee’s report, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said it is not the Government’s policy to introduce whole-site bans on bottom towed fishing gear in marine protected areas.
High Seas Treaty
But the Government has announced it will introduce a bill it claims will help protect two-thirds of the world’s oceans.
The Government said the bill will ratify the so-called High Seas Treaty, signed in 2023. It will safeguard marine ecosystems and protect the ocean as a source of food and oxygen.
Dr Lee said: “DAUK is pleased the UK has joined 56 other countries in ratifying the High Seas Treaty.
“However, we remain concerned the Government is avoiding an outright bottom trawling ban in all UK marine protected areas.
“Trawling is an environmentally destructive practice, indiscriminately catching and killing everything in it’s track.
Blanket ban
“We urge the UK Government to support the recommendations from experts in the field, such as Marine Conservation Society and Oceana UK, and enact a blanket ban on all trawling activity in all marine protected areas.
“Doing so would help restore UK fish stocks and marine biodiversity. It would enhance our marine carbon capture potential, and work towards the nature restoration that we desperately need to tackle the climate and nature crises.”
Toby Perkins MP, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, repeated the committee’s call for a complete ban on bottom trawling in offshore marine protected areas.
“Bottom trawling is a destructive practice,” he said. “We hugely welcome the Government moving forward with banning it in more protected areas of our oceans.
Marine protected areas
“However, the committee is disappointed the Government has not committed to wider bans within marine protected areas which risk undermining the integrity of marine protected areas.”
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