Extension on marine protection areas may impact Channel Islands

Friday, 13 June 2025 12:00

The UK wants to safeguard more marine habitats, which could see trawlers close to CI territorial waters.

The UK Government's idea is to expand its Marine Protection Areas from 18,000 square km to 48,000, pending a three-month consultation with the fishing industry.

The aim is to protect sensitive habitats and creatures from what some argue is a 'destructive' form of fishing.

Vessels with the right permits can do this anyway, and local vessels that meet the criteria are allowed to bottom trawl within each island's waters.

However, there are restrictions, for instance, not trawling inside bays during the summer.

Jersey's Head of Marine Resources, Francis Binney, says extending MPAs will not directly affect the Channel Islands, but it may push more fishing boats close to our territorial limits:

"[We] might see more use of Channel Islands waters by the French or UK boats that can access these areas, but it also may not, because we don't know where the dredging and trawling is going to end up being banned.

"The challenges with fisheries displacement are that you get more pressure in other areas.

"When those areas are already busy and well-fished, that can be a challenge to fisheries management and fish stocks.

He continues to say that a lot of our fish in supermarkets and fish markets come from trawling.

"It is pretty core to food supply and food security.

"In certain habitats, it can be destructive and can interrupt the natural lifecycles of other plants, animals, fish, etc.

"We're also seeing challenges through climate change, through global movement of stocks, through octopus turning up in great numbers, through tuna movements, through crab distribution, it's a big, complicated, diverse picture.

"It needs to be in balance and in the right places."