Hi John,
Yesterday afternoon, activists stopped a supertrawler from fishing in a UK Marine Protected Area. Climbers boarded the ship and dropped a banner reading "Ban supertrawlers now", forcing this giant vessel to stop fishing in the protected area. But this was only a temporary solution. To stop destructive fishing in our protected waters for good, we need the government to take action.
Can you tell the Environment Secretary, George Eustice to act like the ocean protector he claims to be and ban destructive industrial fishing from UK Marine Protected Areas?
TWEET GEORGE EUSTICE: [link removed]
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Over the past three weeks, we've created a 47 square mile area in the Dogger Bank Marine Protected Area that will begin to protect the seabed from destructive bottom trawling. But bottom trawling isn't the only type of industrial fishing happening in UK Marine Protected Areas. [1]
Our investigations have shown that supertrawlers, like the one stopped by our activists, were fishing in UK 'protected' areas for a total of 2963 hours in 2019 - the equivalent of four months. And a recent investigation has shown that supertrawler activity in our protected waters has almost doubled this year compared to last - and the year's not over yet! [2][3]
The government is failing to properly protect these ecologically important marine areas. [4] It's obvious - supertrawlers, which catch hundreds of tonnes of fish every day with nets up to a mile long, shouldn't be fishing anywhere near these waters. And yet the government still hasn't banned them from these protected waters - that's why we're taking action.
It's time to turn up the pressure. Can you tweet Environment Secretary, George Eustice - and tell him to listen to people and politicians across the country and ban destructive fishing from UK Marine Protected Areas?
TWEET GEORGE EUSTICE: [link removed]
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After months of public and political pressure, with over 200,000 people and 85 MPs calling for action, and even a special delivery to the Environment Secretary's front door, the government still hasn't committed to banning destructive fishing in UK Marine Protected Areas. [5][6] This isn't what ocean protectors do. [7]
Let's make this hot topic issue reach boiling point by cranking up the pressure on the government.
Thank you for everything you do,
Anthony and the oceans team
[1] LIVE: Greenpeace blocks destructive fishing in the North Sea: [link removed]
[2] Supertrawlers 'making a mockery' of UK's protected seas: [link removed]
[3] Supertrawlers ramp up activity in UK protected waters during lockdown: [link removed]
[4] Bright blue seas: the need to properly protect our offshore Marine Protected Areas: [link removed]
[5] Greenpeace drops 1.5-ton rock outside Defra HQ in fishing protest: [link removed]
[6] Sir Michael Palin, Gillian Anderson among celebrities calling for UK ban on supertrawlers in marine protected areas: [link removed]
[7] Time to step up and save our ocean: [link removed]
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