This is infuriating. What is the point of a Marine Protected Area if trawlers are allowed to keep ploughing it? Yet again, the government has succumbed to commercial lobbying. theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com
The government is now extending the "interest features" conservation method to the seabed. This approach is harmful on land, directly impeding large-scale restoration. But it's even worse at sea, where the condition of features is almost impossible to monitor. theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com
What it has led to on land is micro-management at the expense of macro benefits, and even the micro is failing badly. Monitoring and enforcement are almost a dead letter, thanks to sweeping cuts. But at sea, total failure is inevitable. Monitoring and enforcement at sea? Don't make me laugh. By contrast, it's far, far easier just to ban fishing (and/or certain fishing types) in Marine Protected Areas. That can be done remotely, cheaply and (with the right tech) with complete success. The government is not only turning marine conservation into a joke, but ensuring it's unenforceable. The thread on one page: skywriter.blue
skywriter.blue
This is infuriating. What is the point of a Marine Protected Area if trawlers are allowed to keep ploughing it? Yet again, the government has succumbed to commercial lobbying. theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com