Rock sculptures to be dropped on seabed in campaign over trawling

ARTWORKS WILL be dropped on to the seabed of a supposedly protected marine reserve, as part of Greenpeace’s efforts to protect it from harmful industrial fishing.

The two rock sculptures by artist Fiona Banner will complete an underwater barrier which has been set up around an area of almost 50 square miles of the Dogger Bank.

It comes after the artist delivered a third sculpture to the doorstep of the Environment Department ( Defra).

Over the past fortnight, more than 30 granite boulders, weighing three tonnes each, have been dropped off the Greenpeace ship Esperanza to make it off limits to bottom trawlers, which drag heavy weighted nets over the seabed to catch fish.

Environmentalists accuse the Government of failing to properly protect the area, despite its designation as a special area of conservation, by not fully restricting damaging fishing activity.

Greenpeace has received a letter from the Government’s Marine Management Organisation formally requesting it to desist and that the activity is under investigation.

It has also been criticised for threatening the lives of fishermen, as well as scientists doing surveys and those involved in offshore wind developments.

However some fishermen in Yorkshire have spoken out in support, including Adrian Noble, who is based in Whitby.

The 53- year- old said: “Over the last 10 years bottom trawlers have decimated the crab and lobster grounds off Whitby, destroying our crab pots with no regard for our living.

“These bottom trawlers have been targeting the Dogger Bank, killing everything in the process.

“Thank God Greenpeace has got involved, stopping these vandals from wrecking the sea by putting these boulders down.

“It is a protected area so these destructive industrial boats shouldn’t be there.”

Ms Banner said: “The pandemic has made us all more alert to the precariousness of nature and our ecology.

“At a time when words like ‘ climate crisis’ and ‘ emergency’ have been repeated to the point of diluting their urgency, I hope these new works and physical gestures carry a clear message and act as a calling card for the government to take action – a call to stop, reconsider and act.”

Philip Evans, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “This sculpture symbolises our Government’s abject failure to protect our most important marine habitats from destructive and illegal fishing.

“Marine protected areas like the Dogger Bank are protected in name only.

“Our boulder barrier will keep bottom trawlers out of almost 50 square miles of the Dogger Bank, but for our oceans to be properly protected, the Government must step in.”

Defra said they were restricted by the Common Fisheries Policy ( CFP) as any measures required the agreement of EU member states.

It added: “Our Fisheries Bill contains a new power enabling the MMO to implement and enforce management measures within our Marine Protected Areas and across English waters once we leave the CFP.

“The Bill will also prohibit any commercial fishing vessel ( UK or foreign registered) from operating in UK waters without a licence.”

Thank God Greenpeace has got involved, stopping these vandals. Fisherman Adrian Noble, who is based in Whitby.