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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's timescale is for publishing proposed byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in some offshore marine protected areas.

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

We have established a comprehensive network of MPAs covering 40% of our waters and, now that we have left the EU, we have new powers to ensure our offshore MPAs are properly protected. Byelaws to prevent damaging fishing in the first four offshore sites were published in 2022, which ban bottom towed fishing gear over sensitive features. The Marine Management Organisation consulted earlier this year on similar proposals for a further 13 sites and a decision on this will be taken shortly. Further consultations to complete the byelaw programme are planned for 2024 and we are aiming to have all MPAs in English waters protected from damaging fishing activity by the end of that year.