Activists from Greenpeace have built an underwater boulder barrier to protect the Offshore Brighton Marine Conservation Zone from bottom dredging by trawlers.
The environmental charity said that it was dropping boulders in the area – which is eight times the size of Brighton and Hove – because the government had left 97 per cent of the protected areas in British waters open to destructive bottom trawling.
Near inshore waters off Sussex, including Brighton and Hove, have also been given some legal protection, with the approval of a new byelaw.
Greenpeace said: “Activists on the Greenpeace ship Esperanza have built a new underwater boulder barrier in the Offshore Brighton marine protected area in the English Channel, one of the UK’s most heavily bottom trawled protected areas.
“This follows Greenpeace’s Dogger Bank boulder barrier and will close 55 square nautical miles of Offshore Brighton, one fifth of its total area, to destructive bottom trawling.
“Celebrities including Thandie Newton, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Paloma Faith, Bella Ramsey, Mark Rylance, Jarvis Cocker and Ranulph Fiennes have signed their names to boulders.
“In response to Greenpeace’s Dogger Bank boulder barrier, the UK government announced new byelaws which would totally close the Dogger Bank and South Dorset protected areas and partially close two other protected areas to bottom trawling.
“This piecemeal approach would still leave 97 per cent of UK offshore protected areas, or 74 out of 76, fully or partially open to bottom trawling.
“Bottom trawlers spent 3,099 hours fishing in Offshore Brighton in 2019. Offshore Brighton was established in 2016 to protect its seabed habitat which is being destroyed by bottom trawling.
“According to the government, Offshore Brighton is ‘unlikely to be moving towards conservation objectives’.
“The government taking steps to restrict bottom trawling in a handful of protected areas demonstrates some political will, following Brexit, to properly protect the UK’s offshore waters.
“This was previously difficult because introducing restrictions on fishing operations in offshore UK waters required agreement from other EU member states.”
Greenpeace UK oceans campaigner Chris Thorne said from on board the Esperanza: “Offshore Brighton is the perfect monument to our government’s failure to protect our seas.
“It exists specifically to protect the seabed but bottom trawlers spend thousands of hours each year ploughing this sensitive habitat.
“The government’s move to properly protect just two of the UK’s protected areas barely touches the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is needed to save our oceans.
“All of the UK’s protected areas need real protection, not just a handful.
