Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to manage fishing in Marine Protected Areas around the coast of the UK; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning supertrawlers and fly shooting vessels from fishing in Marine Protected Areas to allow fish stocks to recover and to support the UK fishing industry.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The UK is at the forefront of marine protection with 372 MPAs protecting 38% of UK waters. We have built a comprehensive network of MPAs and are focusing on making sure they are protected properly. Ninety-eight of our inshore English MPAs now have management measures in place to protect sensitive features from bottom towed fishing gears. We are also developing an ambitious three-year programme for assessing sites and implementing byelaws, where necessary, to manage fishing activity in all English offshore MPAs.