Thank you to all those who have contacted me about supertrawler activity in our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

Given the central importance of our oceans in combating the climate crisis, it is critical that UK waters and the species that live there are properly protected. There are increasing pressures on our oceans and we need to have effective means in place to balance competing demands while protecting nature. This is not always straightforward, and often contested, but needs to be based on good data and evidence. It is clear, however, we should ban supertrawlers from fishing in our MPAs and I believe this should have happened already.

I am aware of research by Greenpeace that found supertrawlers spent almost 3,000 hours fishing within UK MPAs in 2019. Subsequently, Greenpeace found that this activity almost doubled, with supertrawlers spending some 5,590 hours fishing in UK MPAs in the first six months of 2020.

The Government is running a consultation on the proposed sites for Highly Protected Marine Areas pilot, which would include bans on fishing, construction and dredging. This opened on 6 July 2022 and will close on 28 September.

I am concerned that there is no sustainable plan for fishing and the restoration of our marine environments, and that practices such as over-fishing and bottom trawling can have disastrous effects on ocean habitats.

It is clear to me that the current distribution of our fishing opportunities is outdated and unfair. It is essential that our small fishers and coastal communities benefit. During its passage through Parliament in 2020, the Opposition tabled an amendment to the Government’s then Fisheries Bill to ban supertrawlers over 100 metres from fishing in MPAs. Not only do I think this would be beneficial for our oceans and marine biodiversity, I believe it would also benefit our own fishing industry and small boat fleet. The Government voted this down.

In my view, the Government faces a simple choice: whether it is on the side of British fishers or foreign-owned industrial supertrawlers, harvesting huge quantities of fish and plundering the very habitats that we regard as special.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue. I will continue to advocate for a ban on supertrawlers fishing in our MPAs and for sustainable fisheries management.