MPs join calls for protection of the sea

Five years on after laws were passed allowing them to be set up, just 27 of the 127 areas originally recommended which aim to prevent overfishing and ensure wildlife-rich, healthy seas, have been designated.

Another 37 are going out to consultation in the New Year including three off Yorkshire, among them Runswick Bay, north-west of Whitby, which provides vital spawning areas for fish including herring, sprat and cod.

Some 125 MPs and 20 peers - including half a dozen Yorkshire MPs - have thrown their support behind 21 organisations calling for all 127 sites to be designated by 2016.

The Marine Conservation Society says it is important that the strong cross-party support shown “translates into firm timetabled commitments within the party manifestos.”

Earlier this year the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee called on ministers to move much more quickly to establish more MPAs. It said the Government’s sow pace suggested “a lack of Government commitment to this initiative.”

While progress is being made on designations, little is happening on the ground, said Dr Jean-Luc Solandt of the MCS because of an overly complicated “too prescriptive” process, which meant “every single biological feature on the seabed” had to be mapped before they could look at preventing the most damaging activities. He said: “Maybe in time everyone will come to their senses and realise it is good to protect areas from damaging activities.

“That’s all we can hope for. It is a ridiculous process, that is costing society too much money.”