Campaigners have welcomed a huge drop in industrial fishing on the UK’s largest sandbank since a ban was enforced.

Activists had called on the government for years to stop bottom trawling at Dogger Bank, between l78 and 180 miles off Yorkshire.

At five times the size of the Lake District National Park, Dogger Bank was once abundant in species such as halibut, cod and angelshark. Fish, seabirds and harbour porpoises visit to feed on sandeels.

But despite being a “marine protected area” (MPA) it has been heavily fished for decades.

Analysis by the Marine Conservation Society shows a huge drop in damaging fishing activity since a ban was enforced

In 2020 Greenpeace activists upped the ante by dumping dozens of large boulders around part of the sandbank, creating a 47 square mile ‘boulder barrier’ where industrial fishing ships couldn’t drag their nets along the seabed.

A ban on bottom trawling finally came into force in June.

The MCS said the sandbank was bottom trawled for an average 623 hours during the summer between 2015 and 2019.

However between June and October this year, fishing had dropped to just 13 hours – a 98 per cent decrease.

A juvenile cod. Sandeels are an important prey resource found at Dogger Bank supporting a variety of species including fish, seabirds and cetaceans

Jean-Luc Solandt, from the MCS said: “The huge reduction in seabed fishing we’ve identified shows how effective governments can be in protecting our ocean. This needs to be replicated across all offshore MPA’s to help recover fish stocks, provide sanctuary for marine life, and protect sensitive habitats from destruction.”

However, the charity says industrial fishing continues apace on the adjacent Dutch and German sections of the Dogger Bank Marine Protected Area.

It added: “Whilst the ban in English waters of the MPA will encourage local wildlife stocks to recover, the charity's data does show intense fishing elsewhere.

“To address this, the Marine Conservation Society continues to work with a coalition of European Non Governmental Organisations, Seas at Risk, fighting to protect all of Europe's MPAs from the damage done by bottom trawling.

"In particular, the charity is working with Dutch and German colleagues to ensure that protection of their part of the Dogger Bank follows the UK protection.”

The Dogger Bank is the largest single continuous expanse of shallow sandbank in UK waters which was formed by glacial processes before being submerged through sea-level rise.

Campaigners welcome massive drop in industrial fishing on Dogger Bank since ban