Marine park ‘will get public enthusiastic’
A new national marine park off the Devon coast will help to make the public more enthusiastic about the marine environment, a committee of MPs was told yesterday.
The present system of marine protected areas needs to be overhauled, Charles Clover of the Blue Marine Foundation and the Great British Oceans Coalition, told the Commons Environmental Audit Committee.
The committee is continuing its inquiry into sustainable seas.
Mr Clover has been instrumental in setting up marine reserves around British over- seas territories, and has backed plans for a national marine park centred on Plymouth Sound.
He said: “We need to reboot the system by re-engaging the public and acting in the public interest by having marine parks.
“What about Plymouth Sound or Lyme Bay – landscapes that already mean something to people in the way that national parks do on land.”
Mr Clover said that Brexit gave an opportunity to make fishermen play by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to protected the seas.
“We have to ensure that environmental law isn’t trumped by fisheries law when we take charge of our own waters after Brexit.”
He highlighted the fact that the EU has allowed Dutch trawlers to use experimental electric shock technology, known as pulse trawling, on the Dogger Bank, one of the biggest marine protected areas in Europe.
“You wouldn’t be able to do it if you were an oil company – you would have to observe the law. Fisheries for some reason don’t have to observe the law. We mustn’t have that situation after Brexit.”