Save our Seas
Words by Kat Lewis.
If someone told you that the only way to catch chickens was to bulldoze entire forests, what would you think? What about if those forests were in national parks and conservation zones? It’s not hard to imagine the outcry there would be.
Sadly, this is exactly what’s happening in our marine protected areas and because they’re not easily accessible or visible to most of us, their destruction goes unnoticed.
The UK has a network of marine protected areas (MPAs), several of which are off the Dorset coast. These areas are designed to protect underwater habitats that are critical for the health of our seas and fish stocks, as well as to protect sites of special scientific interest (SSIs).
However, MPAs are protected on paper, but not in practice. Highly damaging activities like bottom trawling and dredging are undertaken within their boundaries all too frequently.
To give you an indication of the scale of the problem, in 2019 it was revealed that 97% of MPAs in the UK had been subjected to bottom trawling (usually with the aim of catching cod, whiting haddock and other similar species). This is a lot like bulldozing a forest to catch chickens. Just like forests, it also takes years (in some cases decades) for marine habitats to recover.
Why should we care?
Often when it comes to marine environments, it’s a case of “out of sight, out of mind”. It’s completely understandable why many people would be unaware of the damage commercial activities cause to the seafloor, but we should all be concerned, and be calling for better protections.
The fish we eat…
Fishing communities are increasingly reporting lower catches, which indicates fish stocks are dwindling. Fish populations can’t recover if they’re being taken out of the ocean before they’ve had time to breed. They need protected areas where they can spawn, where juvenile fish can grow, and where the marine ecosystem as a whole can recover.
There is a growing body of evidence that marine reserves, where fishing is banned, have a positive impact on fisheries and those who rely on them for a living. In Hawaii, which is home to the world’s largest fully protected ocean reserve, tuna stocks have rebounded in the waters just outside the reserve’s boundaries. In just three years, fishing communities reported a 54% increase in catches of yellowfin tuna and a 12% increase in catches of bigeye tuna.
A similar effect has been reported in Scotland’s Isle of Arran, which has a community-led no-take zone that has resulted in more and larger lobsters being caught just outside the protected area.
The climate crisis…
Blue carbon is becoming an increasingly important topic among those looking for ways to combat the climate crisis. This refers to marine and coastal ecosystems that sequester and store carbon, removing it from the atmosphere.
Around the world, seagrasses, mangroves and tidal marshes have been identified as critical blue carbon habitats, and they have the capacity to sequester carbon from the atmosphere much more quickly and efficiently than trees do.
But the seabed itself is also a huge carbon sink – and research has found that, on average, bottom trawling around the world releases as much CO2 into the atmosphere as the global aviation industry. Therefore reducing these kinds of highly destructive practices, particularly in areas considered critical for our ocean’s health, is vital.
What can we do?
In 2019, the UK government announced it would create five highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) in the country’s waters. In these areas, no fishing, construction, dredging or digging is allowed. Only non-damaging activities can take place.
This is a step in the right direction, but five sites is far too few. As a country, we need to create a network of HPMAs to allow our ocean’s ecosystems to recover and to help keep carbon stored rather than releasing it into the atmosphere at a catastrophic rate.
There are no HPMAs along the south west coast, despite there being a multitude of critical habitats. We have huge seagrass beds off the Dorset coast, for instance, which need to be properly protected.
Clearly, this is a huge challenge that requires action at a governmental level, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything as individuals. You can:
Sign the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS’s) petition calling for more HPMAs to be created in the UK
Follow and support the Wildlife Trusts’ campaign for more HPMAs in the UK
Contact your MP and tell them this is an issue you care about
Think about where your seafood comes from and make sure you only buy seafood from sustainable sources. The MCS’s Good Fish Guide is a useful place to start if you’re unsure what is and isn’t sustainable
Educate yourself about our marine environments and the importance of blue carbon. In addition to the MCS and Wildlife Trusts, you’ll find fascinating stories and information through Only One, The Blue Carbon Initiative and Ocean Conservation Trust
Get involved with citizen science such as the Seasearch project if you’re a diver or snorkeler
