New protection for the North Sea announced

New protection for the North Sea announced

Today we’re delighted with the news that four of our offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have finally been protected from damaging bottom towed fishing activity. Bex Lynam, Marine Advocacy Officer, explains more...

This long-awaited news follows a public consultation in March 2021 and includes protection for the whole of the Dogger Bank MPA in the North Sea, an area that’s over 12,000km2 - an area larger than the county of Yorkshire!

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust welcomes this significant step by the government, which will protect habitats that play a key role in providing food for marine wildlife like whales, porpoise and seabirds, including puffins at Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve.

Long-awaited protection

For decades The Wildlife Trusts has been campaigning for greater protection for our seas, including the establishment of a ‘blue belt’ of protected areas to safeguard our precious marine wildlife. Over the last 10 years we’ve come a long way with 40 sites now designated in English offshore waters.

The Dogger Bank MPA was first put forward as a candidate MPA site back in 2011, a move supported by The Wildlife Trusts during the evidence collection and consultation phases. When the government opened the consultation on protective measures for the site in March last year the Trust fully supported the closure of this site to damaging activities.

Ten years down the line, we’re thrilled to see this site finally has the protection it needs. 

A hugely important habitat

The Dogger Bank provides a home to sandeels, a type of small silvery fish often found in huge shoals, as they burrow into the sandy seabed found here to protect themselves from predators and lay their eggs on. Sandeels are highly nutritious and so form part of the diet of many animals including fish, seabirds, seals, whales and dolphins.

They are particularly important to our resident puffins here in Yorkshire, making up around 90% of a puffins diet. In recent years, sandeels have begun to decline in number and there’s evidence that their shrinking population is linked to declines in seabirds. Banning the use of gear which heavily impacts the sandeels in the Dogger Bank site will help to protect sandeels and so in turn the many species that rely on them as a source of food. 

A chance to recover

The Dogger Bank MPA has been designated as an MPA since 2017 yet until this point no measures have been put in place to protect the site from human activities. With this new byelaw coming into effect in June this year, the use of bottom towed fishing gear, which is dragged continuously over the seabed damaging and disturbing habitats and sensitive wildlife in its path, will now be prohibited.

This means wildlife in this area has the chance to recover and flourish once again, a much-needed boost for our seas at a time when they’re under a lot of pressure. Reducing the pressure on our seas from fishing and other human impacts will also mean our wildlife is more resilient in the face of a rapidly changing climate.

After extensive consultation with stakeholders, we’re pleased that essential protections for four of England’s offshore Marine Protected Areas will soon be in force. These byelaws will protect some of the most biodiverse habitats in our waters from damaging fishing activities. This is a welcome first step in the goal to protect England’s 40 offshore MPAs by 2024, but there is still much work to be done.
Joan Edwards
Director Marine Conservation, The Wildlife Trusts

What's next?

While we’re delighted to see these sites and our marine wildlife better protected, there’s an urgent need to ensure the remaining unprotected offshore sites are also managed to prevent them from deteriorating any further. These include two sites off the Yorkshire coast; Holderness Offshore MCZ and Markham’s Triangle MCZ.

The four sites protected by these byelaws represent just 10% of the sites still in need of management measures so the Government must take rapid action to protect the rest. 

This is good news, but we've got a long way to go...

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