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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to (a) monitor and (b) report annually on the levels of bottom trawling activity within Marine Protected Areas.

The management and enforcement of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across the UK are devolved matters, and the information provided in this answer therefore relates to England only. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the ten Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities are responsible for assessing fishing activity in the English MPAs for which they are responsible; for deciding on the management measures are required for those MPAs to meet their conservation objectives; and for enforcing existing restrictions within MPAs. For example, the MMO remotely monitors the movements of all fishing vessels using satellite technology, and incursions into areas of MPAs where fishing activities are restricted are investigated. In addition, MMO’s two offshore patrol vessels and aerial surveillance flights are used to monitor and deter any prohibited activity.