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Scallop dredging ban for Lyme Bay
Ministers have announced a ban on damaging types of fishing in Britain's largest ever closure of a marine area to protect wildlife. The ban will cover 60 square nautical miles of Lyme Bay, from West Bay in Dorset to Beer Head in Devon. The area will be off-limits to fishing boats which drag nets along the seabed and damage the environment. Fisheries Minister Jonathan Shaw has told fishermen from 40 boats working in the area that they would no longer be able to use scallop dredges and bottom trawls on the sea bed from July.
Lyme Bay is home to around 300 recorded species of plants and animals, including dense populations of the nationally protected pink seafan and the extremely rare sunset coral. As well as a haven for sponges, starfish and coral, the reefs also support a range of seafood animals, including crab, lobster and scallops. From the moment the area was described as of "national importance" for wildlife by Natural England, the Government came under threat of judicial review by conservationists if it was not protected. The area to be closed represents ten per cent of Lyme Bay. Fishing using nets near the surface or static nets and lines will still be allowed as will diving for scallops, scuba diving and sea angling.
Sources close to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that the environmental benefits of a closure would be huge, and species under threat would now be able to recover and thrive. Ministers are hoping the decision to protect Lyme Bay's wildlife will show that they are committed to protecting the marine environment and have the political will to establish a national network of marine conservation zones under the forthcoming Marine Bill.
Conservation groups have welcomed the ban but some local fishermen have not. James Portus, secretary of the South West Inshore Fishermen's Association, said: "I'm very disappointed to put it mildly. Dozens of people's livelihoods along the south coast are being sacrificed on the altar of the marine environment which we were perfectly capable of protecting through our agreement. We don't ban all the cars from the road just because one or two break the speed limit.
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Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: "Lyme Bay is one of Britain's richest environments, and the measures we have announced will protect the reefs and the wildlife that depends on them from the most damaging fishing methods." |
This recent news is a fantastic step forward in marine nature conservation.
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