Four Marine Management Organisation (MMO) byelaws come into force
today (June 13) to protect four offshore marine protected areas.
These are being introduced under new powers under the Fisheries
Act, the first major fisheries legislation in almost 40 years.
These new measures will prohibit fishing activities in MPAs where
there is evidence that they harm wildlife or damage habitats.
Formal consultation was held between 1 February and 28 March 2021
on proposed management measures to manage fishing within four
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the English offshore region.
Having reviewed the consultation responses, the MMO has now made
these four byelaws which were confirmed by the Secretary of State
and have come into force today.
The byelaws will bring in management measures on fishing within
these four MPAs in English waters:
- Dogger Bank Special Area of Conservation
- Inner Dowsing, Race Bank and North Ridge Special Area of
Conservation
- South Dorset Marine Conservation Zone
- The Canyons Marine Conservation Zone
Under these byelaws, bottom trawls, dredges, demersal seines, and
semi-pelagic trawls, collectively known as bottom towed gear,
cannot be used over certain areas. Two of the sites also prohibit
the use of certain static gear such as pots, nets, or lines over
particularly sensitive areas.
Protecting the features of these MPAs is important to safeguard
the ecosystem services which they provide. These may include
providing nursery areas for commercially important fish species,
providing food for marine birds and other threatened species, and
sequestering and storing “blue” carbon. These measures also
provide an opportunity to better understand how these services
change as ecosystems recover.
These first four MPAs were selected as a priority to preserve
their vibrant and productive undersea ecosystems. They include
the Dogger Bank Special Area of Conservation, which has the
largest shallow sandbank in British waters and supports
commercial fish species such as cod and plaice, as well as sand
eels that provide an important food source for kittiwakes,
puffins and porpoises. They also include the Canyons Marine
Conservation Zone which protects rare and highly sensitive deep
water corals.
The names of the byelaws are:
