I intervened in this debate last week to say: I am sure that the Minister is well aware that of our marine protected areas only 5% are protected from bottom trawling. Does the high seas treaty mean that when some of our allies, such as Denmark or France, assert that they are okay to bottom trawl in our MPAs, we can stop them?
The key thing that we are doing around bottom trawling is looking specifically at the areas that are most important and need conserving the most. When we look at making agreements with other countries, that is clearly an important consideration, because there is no point in designating somewhere a marine protected area if we do not look carefully at which parts need protecting the most and ensure that damage does not take place. It is good that we have 60% of our MPAs protected, but, clearly, we need to move forward and do more.
The complete debate is available here
After the debate I wrote to the Minister’s office to say: In her response to my supplementary, the Minister did not answer my question about whether the treaty would fully protect MPAs? Plus at the end she said: “It is good that we have 60% of our MPAs protected, but, clearly, we need to move forward and do more.” But as I said in my question only *5%* are protected from bottom trawling. Can you explain, please?
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb 