UK authority is determined to approve new marine reserves legislation round the coast of Britain. Conservationists are warning that the Marine & Coastal Access Bill, which has its final reading in the House of Commons on Monday, contains a clause that makes a mockery of calling the areas “protected”.
It is said that the new marine reserves, the aquatic equivalent of national parks, are intended to reverse the damage, but barring last-minute intervention, those caught harming protected areas will be able to escape punishment by simply stating that they were “sea fishing”.
On the contrary fishermen have defended the loophole, saying that it is necessary to protect them from being prosecuted for causing accidental damage under European environmental law. The disagreement highlights the gulf that still exists between fishermen and conservationists.
Although the sea seems a borderless expanse, it is criss-crossed with the competing claims of shipping lines, aggregate dredgers, wind farm developers, oil and gasfields and a dozen types of fishing. The conservation zones will protect nationally important habitats, geology and geomorphology alongside marine wildlife.
It is said that on average, protected areas result in a 21 percent increase in biodiversity and a 466 percent increase in biomass. In small areas the main benefits are seen among lobsters, crabs and shellfish, whose larvae seed wider areas outside the reserve. Fishermen are not the only ones reluctant to reveal where their interests lie.
