Report | July, 2026

Trawled & Mauled: The Case Against Bottom Trawling in Marine Protected Areas for Seabirds & Cetaceans

 

Bottom trawlers drag heavy metal gear and nets, which can weigh several tonnes, across the seafloor, scooping up almost all life in their path. While the direct destruction of seabed habitats has been well documented, this damaging form of fishing also has severe impacts across the marine ecosystem and is rampant in areas designed to safeguard some of Britain’s most beloved wildlife, such as puffins and porpoises Oceana’s new report Trawled and Mauled has revealed. One harbour porpoise sanctuary in the North Sea was subjected to over 30,000 hours of apparent bottom trawling last year alone. Currently, there are no UK marine protected areas (MPAs) designated for whales, dolphins or porpoises that are fully protected from bottom trawling across the whole site, and only two for seabirds. This is out of the total 113 MPAs that should be providing safe havens for these species, and only covers an area of sea the size of the Isle of Wight.