This week, the UK Government announced plans to extend a ban on the damaging practice of bottom trawling – a method of fishing that involves dragging weighted nets and chains along the sea floor – to more Marine Protected Areas in England’s seas.

This hugely destructive process drags heavy chains across the seabed, bulldozing fragile marine habitats, releasing carbon from the seabed and indiscriminately capturing and killing marine life in its path. This fishing method is often used to catch just one or two species of fish. So many other sea creature are caught up in this practice. Over three quarters of what is caught is thrown away. 

Sir David Attenborough's latest natural history film, Ocean, has shone a light on the horrendous impact bottom trawling has in the sea, but also the incredible potential for marine life to recover once the fishing method is stopped.

If the ban goes ahead, the ban on the use of ‘bottom trawled gear’ would be extended to include Suffolk’s only Marine Conservation Zone, Orford Inshore MCZ, which lies 14 kilometers – just over seven nautical miles – off the Suffolk coast at Orford Ness and Aldeburgh.

Stopping bottom trawling would be a massive step forward for protecting Orford Inshore’s rich mixed sedimentary seabed habitats, which are important nursery and spawning grounds for many fish species, from Dover sole to sand eels, and support all manner of other marine life, including colourful anemones, sea cucumbers, urchins, and starfish.

The benefits of banning bottom trawling will also be felt by the fishing sector, which depends on protecting important fish nurseries and spawning grounds to maintain fish stocks.

Take action to ban bottom trawling.

Together with other the Wildlife Trusts around the country, we are calling on The Government to ban bottom trawling in all Marine Protected Areas designated for the seabed habitats. 

You can add your voice to the campaign by taking 2 minutes to send an email to Defra Minister Emma Hardy.

Email Emma Hardy

It's more than 5 years since Orford Inshore was first designated as a Marine Conservation Zone, but this would be the first time that damaging activities have been specifically prohibited in the MCZ, turning protection on paper into meaningful measures to conserve this precious part of Suffolk’s seas.

Orford Inshore is still without a management plan that would identify other measures to protect and conserve its seabed habitat features and the marine wildlife they support. We hope the ban on bottom trawling will spur on Natural England and the Marine Management Organisation to get a management plan in place soon so we can be more confident Orford Inshore is benefiting from measures to protect and enhance the marine environment.