Monday 18 January 2021

Marine 'Unprotected' Areas?

The EU, like other bodies (including, since Brexit, the UK), have (for very good reasons) designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). In theory, these MPAs are locations, where marine biodiversity is legally protected. Bottom trawling is an extremely destructive process, because its 'by-catch' removes most moderately large organisms living in the substrates (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/18/ngos-demand-action-not-promises-as-eu-accused-of-failing-to-protect-seas). Bottom trawling (often for scallops) is illegal in MPAs but the law is rarely enforced. The EU's (including the UK, at that time) 2020 Biodiversity strategy for marine locations, was not an outstanding success. The strategy for 2030 will also fail, it is argued, unless the MPAs are policed and infrigements (especially bottom trawling) punished. NGOs have presented a 10 point action plan to achieve this. It might well, however, turn out to be another case of politicians talking the talk without walking the walk (something that seems to happen to many environmental issues). Fishermen seem to get stronger protections than MPAs.

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