Marine unProtected Areas

The Marine unProtected Areas report details the results of a yearlong study by our team of experts, exploring fishing activity in the UK's offshore Marine Protected Areas.

Bottom trawling (otter or beam) often involves nets dragged along the seabed which can damage the seafloor if it is vulnerable and catch everything in its path, including non-target species.

What did our report show?

Our Marine UnProtected Areas report found:

• All but one of the offshore Marine Protected Areas designated to protect the seabed experienced bottom trawling and dredging between 2015 and 2018.
• Areas of seabed later designated as MPAs in 2019, experienced the highest rates of fishing between 2015 and 2018.
• Bottom trawl and dredge vessels spent at least 89,894 hours fishing the seabed inside Marine Protected Areas between 2015 and 2018.

Carbon storage

Much of the carbon stored in the UK’s seafloor (93%) is found in the muddy and sandy sediments in offshore waters where there are no trawling restrictions. As the seabed is trawled, carbon stored there is released into the water, where it can make its way into the atmosphere and could ultimately contribute to climate change.

It's crucial that carbon stored in the UK’s offshore waters remains there.

What needs to be done?

Governments must support and incentivise ending the use of bottom towed gear where it damages the marine environment and move to low impact and sustainable methods of fishing. We are specifically calling for:

• The UK Government to complete its byelaws stopping bottom-trawling in English offshore seabed Marine Protected Areas and safeguard these important sites, and the Scottish Government to stop bottom trawling in seabed MPAs in Scotland's waters.
• Properly protect and restore our existing Marine Protected areas (MPAs), so that no activities can take place that damage the designated features of the MPA.
• Deliver effective and long-term conservation of marine biodiversity outside of protected sites, to complement the existing network of MPAs.
• Improved marine planning - halting development in sensitive areas and pro-actively identify and encourage suitable areas for nature restoration.

We know protection works 

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. And, when areas of sea around the world were fully protected, biodiversity was found to increase by an average of 21%.