Government’s Marine Management Organisation blocks Greenpeace UK boulder action overnight 8.9.22

Greenpeace UK’s plans to drop more boulders in the South West Deeps (East) Marine Protected Area to prevent industrial fishing has been blocked by the government overnight.

After Greenpeace UK yesterday announced their intention to load more boulders onto the ship Arctic Sunrise in Poole Quay to extend the barrier they created last week, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) threatened Poole Harbour Commission with legal action if they allowed the boulders into port. The gates to Bulwark Quay where the ship is berthed were also locked this morning, and the haulage company transporting the boulders also received a legal threat.

Activists and crew had been preparing to return to the South West Deeps to extend the protective boulder barrier they created on 1 September to make it impossible for bottom-trawling to take place in one of the most heavily fished areas of the MPA. The area currently has no protection from fishing in place.

Bottom-trawling is a hugely destructive type of fishing which tears up marine habitats by dragging heavy nets across the seafloor. Extending the boulder barrier would have given further protection to one of the South West Deeps’ most heavily fished areas.

Will McCallum, Head of Oceans at Greenpeace UK, said: “The Marine Management Organisation has put an astonishing amount of energy into trying to stop marine protection. They are using intimidation tactics to block ocean defenders, while brazenly allowing industrial fishing vessels to destroy seabed habitats in our so-called Marine Protected Areas.

“The MMO is failing the UK’s small-scale fishermen. Their livelihoods are quickly becoming unviable; many are returning home with empty nets while huge factory boats scoop up all the fish in sight. It’s no wonder that two-thirds of our fish species are in decline.

“It’s clear that the government can act quickly when it wants to – so they have no excuse for their painstakingly slow approach to ocean protection. We stand by our demand that industrial fishing is banned in every UK Marine Protected Area, by adding a simple clause to commercial fishing licences. We won’t stop until our oceans are truly protected.”