Earlier this week, Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely and I joined Greenpeace UK to discuss the threats facing the seas off the south coast of England and the importance of strengthening marine protection to protect nature and boost local coastal communities.
I am grateful to the Greenpeace crew for the opportunity to learn more about the need for enforced effective rules to ban unsustainable fishing.
It was a pleasure to meet the working fisherman from Newhaven who took us out on Greenpeace’s newest boat, Sea Beaver, sailing around the waters to the east of the Isle of Wight and south of Rustington and Worthing.
The crew explained why ‘fly-shooting’, super trawling and techniques that destructively scour the sea bed combine to ruin the marine ecosystem while ending the opportunities for appropriate catches of mature fish.
I join Greenpeace in calling for bottom trawlers, supertrawlers and fly shooters all to be banned from the UK’s marine protected areas.
This would help to revive the UK’s fishing communities, protect biodiversity and help keep blue carbon stores buried safely in the deep oceans.
