Greenpeace UK urges PM to keep post-Brexit pledge and ban supertrawlers

Greenpeace UK has urged the prime minister to ban supertrawlers in the UK’s network of marine protected areas.

Speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Boris Johnson said after Brexit the UK “will be able to ban these huge hoover trawlers that come in and hoover up everything off the bottom of the sea”.

“The prime minister has just claimed that now the UK has left the EU, the government will take action against the large-scale destructive fishing that is hoovering up fish at an unsustainable rate, often in some of the UK’s most sensitive marine environments,” says Greenpeace UK’s head of oceans Will McCallum.

“If he meant what he said, he should take the immediate step of banning bottom-trawling and supertrawlers over 100 metres long from the entirety of the UK’s network of marine protected areas.

“Unless we start properly protecting these fragile habitats from the most damaging examples of industrial fishing, the UK cannot lay claim to being a world leader in ocean protection.”

The huge boats – the largest of which is more than 465ft long – have been the subject of controversy due to their ability to “vacuum” up huge quantities of fish every day.

A YouGov poll commissioned by Greenpeace reveals that four in five members of the British public want the factory ships banned from fishing in the UK’s MPAs.

“This polling makes absolutely clear that the public is united behind our call for a ban on supertrawlers fishing in protected areas,” says Philip Evans, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK.

“After a decade of political division, our call cutting across the political divide should send a firm message to the government that enough is enough.

“Supertrawlers must be banned from our protected areas.”