UK government considers wider ban on destructive fishing method
After mounting pressure to take action against destructive bottom trawling, the UK government has announced that it will consider extending a ban on this type of fishing in some protected areas in English waters.
The decision comes as our WDC team prepare to take part in the UN Ocean Conference that takes place in France this week.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of whales and dolphins die in fishing gear and rope around the globe. Whilst it is not clear how many are affected by bottom trawling, the release of David Attenborough's latest documentary, Ocean, featured disturbing footage of this fishing practice decimating the seafloor and indiscriminately trapping marine species as it ploughs ahead.
Astonishingly, this destruction is allowed to take place in UK waters that are designated as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). WDC has campaigned hard to get UK governments to establish some of these protected spaces, and this is why we have been joining the call for a bottom trawling ban.
The proposal from the government is now subject to a 12 week consultation period with the fishing industry and others but, if passed, would cover over 40 of the UK's 178 MPAs and increase a ban on bottom trawling to nearly 12,000 sq miles.
Find out more about Marine protected Areas and how we are helping to create safer places for whale and dolphins to live here
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