‘Like bulldozing a national park’: Experts warn bottom-trawling fishing methods are destroying ecosystems

A report reveals the destructive technique is taking place in 98 per cent of UK marine protected areas for thousands of hours a year. Experts tell Harry Cockburn why the preservation of these areas is paramount

Curled octopus on a horse mussel bed off Shetland (Marine Conservation Society)

Devastating “bottom-trawling” fishing practices – which churn up the ocean floor, destroying “vital” seabed ecosystems and releasing carbon deposits – are taking place in 98 per cent of the UK’s marine protected areas, a disturbing report has warned.

The UK’s Marine Protected Areas are where environmentally damaging activities are supposedly restricted, to conserve habitats and wildlife, but a year-long study by experts at the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has revealed industrial-scale fishing operations are continuing for thousands of hours a year in all but 5 per cent of these areas.

The MCS described the destruction as “equivalent to bulldozing a national park on land”, and is calling for a ban on bottom-trawling there.

Bottom-trawling has been a key method of fishing since the beginning of the 20th century as the volumes of fish demanded by the market rose enormously.

“Catching fish such as cod with a static net or line just doesn't catch the volumes that the market demands, and that our fishers need to catch to make profit,” Jean-Luc Solandt, principal specialist in Marine Protected Areas at the MCS, told The Independent.

Bottom-trawling targets species including cod, haddock, ling, monkfish, hake, lemon and dover sole, plaice, turbot, halibut, skate, langoustines and cuttlefish.

“However, whilst it is effective in gathering more of a catch, we also know that heavy bottom-towed fishing gear such as beam-trawling and dredging damages the seabed and the life that lives on it,” Dr Solandt said.

“We also know that gear towed on the seabed reduces the carbon stored in the sediment, with potential impacts on our capacity to mitigate climate change. This gear technology has been used for more than 100 years virtually unchanged.”

Much of the carbon stored in the UK’s seafloor (93 per cent) is found in the muddy and sandy sediments mainly in offshore waters where there are no trawling restrictions, the MCS said.

As the seabed is trawled with the heavy fishing gear dragging along the bottom, carbon stored in the sediments is released into the water, where it can make its way into the atmosphere and could ultimately play a role in worsening the climate crisis.

The research paper, entitled Marine unProtected Areas, reveals the extent of the industrial operation taking place in these zones, a significant portion of which is from European-registered fishing vessels, but both British and European boats are targeting these areas.

“Between 2015 and 2018, the sandbanks and reefs offered ‘protection’ by the UK’s offshore Marine Protected Areas have experienced a total of nearly 89,900 hours (equivalent to 3,746 days) of fishing effort by vessels using bottom-contacting mobile gear,” the report states.

Over the four-year period, the UK fleet was responsible for 42.6 per cent of all bottom-trawling fishing inside Marine Protected Area boundaries, with other EU fleets making up 57.3 per cent of fishing.

In contrast, the UK fleet made up 62.7 per cent of fishing outside the protected areas while other fleets were responsible for 37.2 per cent.

Dr Solandt said: “Our research shows that Marine Protected Areas aren't protecting our marine habitats. While bottom-trawling is still allowed, we will continue to release more carbon from the sea floor and prevent complex carbon-storing habitats from recovering. In order to battle the climate emergency, there has to be limits on where fishing of this kind can take place.”

He added: “We’ve been calling for adequate protections for UK seas for more than a decade, to protect and recover our degraded marine life, with very few results. With the introduction of the new Fisheries Act, bottom-trawling must be banned in Marine Protected Areas that are designed to protect the seabed.

“Without a ban on this form of fishing, these areas of our seas simply aren’t recovering and we’re missing a crucial opportunity to combat climate change and ensure there are indeed plenty more fish in the sea.”

Chris Thorne, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “This is yet more evidence that the UK’s Marine Protected Areas are not fit for purpose. How can this government allow destructive industrial bottom-trawlers to rip up almost all of our protected areas of seabed, harming marine life and ecosystems and disturbing vital carbon stores, while still claiming to be a ‘global ocean champion’?

“The time has come for the government to stop hiding behind empty statements, and deliver on its Brexit promise to properly protect our seas. A robust network of Marine Protected Areas, where all destructive fishing like bottom-trawling is banned, would make the UK a genuine world leader in marine protection, and could also help us combat the climate emergency. Now is the time for the government to deliver.”

The MCS notes that bans on bottom-trawling have been proven to be an effective means of regenerating thriving ecosystems.

The organisation said: “Within five years of protection from bottom-trawling, animals in three UK and Isle of Man Marine Protected Areas were found to be larger and more diverse. When areas of sea around the world were fully protected, biodiversity was found to increase by an average of 21 per cent. Alongside flora and fauna bouncing back, carbon stores are left undisturbed and are able to build back up, as new life emerges on the seabed.”

A Defra spokesperson told The Independent: “The UK is a global leader in the fight to protect our seas. As an independent coastal state, the UK can now review which vessels can access and fish our waters. All boats must abide by our rules around sustainability and protection of our Marine Protected Areas.

“Last year, the government commissioned a review of how we protect our Marine Protected Areas, and we are carefully considering whether there is a case for increased protections for these areas.”