Lindisfarne spared fishing ban to protect way of life

PLANS to ban fishing on the Northumberland island of Lindisfarne have been scrapped.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was considering making waters off the island on the north-east coast a Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMA) area to “rewild” the seas.

But last year, The Sunday Telegraph revealed how residents on the island, also known as Holy Island, feared a 50 square mile fishing ban would “rip the heart out” of the small community.

Residents, including the island’s vicar, as well as parish council and Northumberland county council fought the proposals insisting that crab and lobster potting had a low impact upon marine life and was compatible with conservation.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Tory MP for Berwick, has now welcomed the decision to abandon the plans and so preserve a “centuries old way of life”.

She said: “I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to reverse this decision, in particular the Holy Island residents; the wider Northumberland community who took the time to respond to my survey and Defra’s consultation; local figureheads like Reverend Sarah Hills and John Bevan, chair of the parish council, and of course the fishing community themselves.

“Their story is one of hard work and dedication to keeping their way of life going, and that story has inspired local and national support.

“I also want to thank the ministers in Defra who have listened to us all and realised this wasn’t the right location for the trial. I know they are looking forward to hearing somewhat less from me in the coming weeks.”