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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the length of time it will take to protect all 76 offshore Marine Protected Areas from bottom trawling in those protected areas.

Marine protection is a devolved matter and the information below relates to England only.

In England, we have 40 offshore Marine Protected Areas which have been designated to protect a variety of important habitats, species and geological features. Outside of the Common Fisheries Policy, we now are focused on ensuring these sites have the appropriate level of protection from bottom trawling.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has developed an ambitious programme for assessing sites and implementing byelaws, where necessary, to manage fishing activity in all English offshore Marine Protected Areas. We recognise the urgency to establish management measures to protect the marine environment. We will engage fully with all stakeholders and have established a process to enable evidence gathering and consultation, with the aim of all sites being protected within 3 years. As soon as the transition period ended, the MMO moved quickly to launch a consultation on draft management measures for the first four sites. All English offshore sites have been prioritised based on the features sensitivity to fishing activity and these four sites were considered the most urgent.

The consultation closes on the 28^th March 2021 and the MMO is keen to hear views on the proposed management measures.