June 18, 2025
We did it! Bottom trawling bans across English seas
BY: Hugo Tagholm
Topics: Habitat Protection
At the UN Ocean Conference, the UK Government announced a proposal for public consultation which would completely ban bottom trawling in 41 of England’s offshore marine protected areas. In giving English seas space for recovery this would benefit wildlife and communities alike.
The groundswell of public feeling is clear, the true scale of the destruction has been revealed, and MPs from across parties have called for change. Now, it looks like the UK Government may have finally woken up to the vital importance of banning bottom trawling in marine havens.
The government’s proposal, which was announced at the UN Ocean Conference, would be an invaluable and urgently needed lifeline for England’s seas, if fully implemented. The plan, which forms the basis of a public consultation, would mean around 30,000 square kilometres of sea are protected from the destruction of bottom trawling, giving UK waters a real chance at restoration and rejuvenation.
Crucially, the plans mainly propose protecting these marine areas in their entirety. In the past the direction of travel has been a weaselly approach, only banning trawling from ‘features’ such as reefs. Encircling these fragments of habitat in a brutal ring of industrialisation forestalls any chance of real recovery and fails our ocean.
And it really is brutal. Weighted nets bulldoze the ocean floor, indiscriminately hoovering up sea life. We tracked the trail of destruction left behind in UK seas and our analysis revealed that over 20,000 hours of suspected bottom trawling ravaged the UK’s offshore marine ‘protected’ areas last year.
The two worst affected sites were off the coast of Cornwall, near where I live and work. Together, these so called protected areas suffered approximately 6,800 hours of bottom trawling. But under the new proposed plans these havens would be entirely free of this damaging practice.
Let’s be clear, that is a major win for our seas. These sanctuaries are home to wildlife ranging from the cat-shark to the angler fish to the cuckoo ray and fan mussel, one of Britain’s largest and most threatened molluscs.
Underwater sand dunes here perform vital roles by bringing nutrients from deeper waters to the surface, stimulating an abundance of ocean life. Off Land’s End, the second-most trawled site also stores an estimated 1.67 megatonnes of carbon: equivalent to the carbon emissions from over 1 million return flights from London to Sydney.
And this is just the wildlife that is still hanging on, despite the constant, devastating impacts of trawling. If these plans are fully implemented, research shows we can expect an explosion of ocean life to come roaring back.
The government has also rightly identified the significant economic benefits that come through protecting our seas. They cite a net benefit, after all implementation and other costs, of £3.1 billion over 20 years. This is the bounty we reap through enhanced environmental protection, boosted fish populations, nutrient cycling and climate regulation. All just part of the priceless value of our ocean.
This is a golden opportunity for the UK be true to its heritage as an ocean nation. We now need to see these restorative, whole-site bans used across Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish seas, and for the government to stay true to its word for England. The public consultation is open now. Together we must tell the government: Yes, stand up for our future, protect our seas.
This article was originally published by The Daily Express and is reposted here with permission.