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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the UK's seabed is protected from the fishing practice of bottom trawling.

A single figure would not give an accurate picture of the area of the UK's seabed that is protected from the practice of bottom trawling. This is due to the various fishing method restrictions used, including full spatial closures, seasonal closures and those based on the size of fishing vessels. Additionally, as Defra is only responsible for fisheries management for parts of the UK,with Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities leading in the 0-6 nautical miles area, this data is not held in one place.