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MPs have issued a scathing rebuke to the government over its failure to protect England’s seas, calling for an immediate ban on destructive practices like bottom trawling in protected waters.
In a report published today, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee warns Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are failing in their core purpose – because damaging activities such as dredging, mining and trawling are still allowed to take place.
The government claims to be committed to protecting the marine environment but the report says it has left gaping holes in the current regime.
The destructive nature of bottom trawling has been exposed in the recent film ‘Ocean’ by David Attenborough, which showed the sea bed being torn up.
Of the 178 MPAs established, only three are Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) where extractive activities are fully banned.
Chair of the Committee, Toby Perkins MP, pulled no punches:
UK waters are teeming with complex ecosystems that are not only precious in their own right but also critical to sustaining the delicate balance of marine life. Ministers must ensure that marine protected areas live up to their name.”
“Activities with the potential to seriously damage marine environments, such as bottom trawling, risk slipping through the regulatory net.
“Ministers have all the information they need to press ahead with banning bottom trawling in the offshore protected areas where it presents the most risk. Why the delay? Our oceans cannot afford any more prevarication. It is time to act.”
The Committee is demanding the government publish a plan to expand the HPMA network to cover 10% of UK waters by 2030. It also slammed the government’s outdated Marine Policy Statement—last meaningfully updated in 2011—as “not fit for purpose”.
MPs are calling for a full rewrite of the policy by January 2026 to clearly set out how ministers will balance marine exploitation with environmental protection.
They also condemned the UK’s failure to ratify the UN High Seas Treaty, which was signed two years ago but remains in limbo.
“Doing so would send a clear signal ahead of this month’s UN Oceans Conference that the UK is serious about protecting valuable ecosystems in our waters,” said Mr Perkins.
We discussed this issue with Dr Jean-Luc Soldandt, of the Blue Marine Foundation, in our upcoming Net Hero Podcast. He agreed marine protection had to be made a priority and if so, the seas could restore themselves. Listen to the whole episode from next Weds.
