Less than a month remains for people to have their say on latest proposals for England’s marine protected areas
The Marine Management Organisation’s (MMO) formal consultation on the proposed management of bottom towed fishing in 13 marine protected areas (MPAs) and call for evidence on impacts of fishing on MPA habitats and species will close on 28 March 2023.
MPA features – Sponges and pink sea fan on boulder reef. Credit Natural England
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is progressing the next stages for managing fishing in England’s marine protected areas (MPAs) and needs fishers and other marine stakeholders to share views on its latest proposals.
MPAs are areas of the ocean established to protect habitats and species essential for healthy, functioning marine ecosystems. The purpose of MPAs is to protect and recover vital habitats and species in English coastal waters from damage caused by human activities.
In February 2023, MMO launched proposals to protect the most sensitive MPA habitats and species. This Stage 2 consultation, asks for feedback on a proposed MMO byelaw to manage bottom towed gear across 13 MPAs:
- Cape Bank
- East of Haig Fras
- Farnes East
- Foreland
- Goodwin Sands
- Haig Fras
- Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton
- Hartland Point to Tintagel
- Land’s End and Cape Bank
- North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef
- Offshore Brighton
- South of Celtic Deep
- Wight-Barfleur Reef
Alongside the formal consultation, the MMO is running a Stage 3 call for evidence, to seek views and information on evidence and analysis of the impact of fishing on seabed habitats and species across the wider MPA network. Three ‘impacts evidence documents’ review the interactions between fishing gear and designated seabed features which have not been assessed under Stages 1 and 2.
These impacts evidence documents focus on the interactions of anchored nets and lines, bottom towed gear and traps on the following features:
- reef (including high/moderate energy circalittoral rock, Annex I reef: biogenic and rocky)
- sandbanks and subtidal sediments (including subtidal coarse sediment, subtidal sand, subtidal mixed sediments, and subtidal mud)
- ocean quahog
- fan mussel
- sea-pen and burrowing megafauna communities
- fragile sponge and anthozoan communities
- pink sea fans
Michael Coyle, Head of Marine Protection and Operations Services at the Marine Management Organisation, said:
“We’d like to thank all those who have already provided a response to our consultation and call for evidence.
“With just a few weeks to go, please consider sparing some time to provide any contributions or feedback. Your engagement is important and will help to ensure that the appropriate management is put in place to protect MPA habitats, species and supports sustainable fishing activities around our coast for the future.’’
The formal consultation and the call for evidence close on 28 March 2023, meaning only a few weeks remain for people to take part.
To find out more, please visit: Managing Fishing in Marine Protected Areas: Consultations - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)