These ocean oases could be protected from trawling – 20 years after the United Nations first called for protection.

Greenpeace has deployed a barrier of large boulders in the North Sea to protect harbour porpoises from destructive fishing practices. The environmental group placed boulders weighing up to two tonnes each on the seabed in the Southern North Sea Marine Protected Area, an area designated to safeguard the marine mammal. The action aims to deter bottom trawling, a fishing method that drags heavy gear across the seabed, which Greenpeace claims destroyed delicate habitats and depleted fish stocks crucial for porpoises. Analysis by Greenpeace shows that in 2025, bottom trawlers logged over 37,000 fishing hours in the protected zone, significantly more than in other offshore marine protected areas. The group states that this activity has disrupted porpoise hunting and threatened their habitat. Actors Simon Pegg and Benedict Cumberbatch signed their names on the boulders, symbolising their support for marine protection. Greenpeace's vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, will patrol the area to prevent further destructive fishing. Will McCallum, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, urged the government to ban destructive fishing across all protected waters and lead a global network of ocean sanctuaries. Labour MP Kerry McCarthy, who also signed a boulder, highlighted that less than 1% of UK seas are protected from industrialised fishing, calling for a ban on bottom trawling and the creation of properly protected ocean sanctuaries both in UK waters and across the Atlantic. The Southern North Sea supports nearly 20% of the UK North Sea population of harbour porpoises, making the area critical for their conservation. Greenpeace claims to have effectively closed 44 square miles of the marine protected area to bottom trawling, describing it as an 'ocean park'.

Several environmental groups have called for the bill to be stopped but fishing companies say it helps modernise a system that has worked well for decades.

Join me in the campaign to protect the oceans from destructive fishing. No more bottom trawling on seamounts!

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🌹Labour MP for Leeds North West 💚 Climate and Nature Champion 🇬🇧 Proud Yorkshire Woman Katie.White.MP@parliament.uk

120 Posts, 19 Following, 86 Followers · We are leaders in marine conservation, making discoveries & collaborating globally to take effective action for seahorses and their seas. Based at UBC, Canada and ZSL, UK.

120 Posts, 19 Following, 86 Followers · We are leaders in marine conservation, making discoveries & collaborating globally to take effective action for seahorses and their seas. Based at UBC, Canada and ZSL, UK.

Jono Ridler is swimming the length of the North Island unassisted… but he has a lot of help.

Nature Sustainability - Carbon conflicts in ocean fisheries