Commenting on the Government closing the Dogger Bank to bottom trawling, 18 months after Greenpeace built a protective boulder barrier in the area, Fiona Nicholls, an Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

“It’s been 18 months since Greenpeace built a protective boulder barrier in the Dogger Bank and since the government committed to stop bottom trawling in this iconic and ecologically important area. While this is a major step towards protecting some of the most environmentally significant features of the Dogger Bank, destructive industrial fishing vessels like factory trawlers will still be allowed to plunder this now partially protected area.

“We need the government to get us on track this year to fully or highly protecting all of our marine protected areas. That means, as a starting point, banning all destructive industrial fishing vessels. This could be done using post-Brexit powers to restrict fishing licences, rather than simply relying on the cumbersome process of introducing partial site byelaw restrictions. Only then will the UK be a true world leader in marine protection, and can nature and coastal communities have a chance to recover.”