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A Senedd Member called for restrictions on bottom trawling to protect Wales’ seabeds as she criticised the current “rudderless” marine protection policy.

Janet Finch-Saunders said she could hardly imagine a more wasteful way of catching fish than bottom trawling, which involves dragging heavy nets across the sea floor.

The Conservatives’ shadow climate secretary told the Senedd: “It is a national disgrace that this Welsh Government is allowing such destructive and wasteful practices to take place.”

Ms Finch-Saunders warned: “These practices effectively bulldoze through and destroy seabed habitats. They release high levels of carbon and they catch untargeted marine life.”

She stated bottom trawling is excluded in less than 1% of seas, with restrictions around Skomer Island – only one of the 139 marine protected areas (MPAs) surrounding Wales.

‘Destructive’

Ms Finch-Saunders described the “destructive” method of fishing as “incompatible” with MPAs, which are meant to be sanctuaries for marine life.

“I fear that the Welsh Government has left marine policy rudderless,” she said, warning Wales has been waiting more than a decade for new marine conservation zones.

Ms Finch-Saunders told Senedd Members: “Stopping this wicked trawling in MPAs would be one of the most impactful steps that this Welsh Government could take in meeting nature and climate commitments for protecting and effectively managing 30% of our sea by 2030.”

She urged Welsh ministers to follow Westminster’s lead, with the UK Government consulting on proposals to ban bottom trawling in 41 MPAs – an area spanning 30,000km2.

Ms Finch-Saunders pointed to the example of a ban in Lyme Bay in south-west England leading to a 430% increase in the richness of the species mix.

‘Hope’

Contributing to the debate on July 9, Joyce Watson raised long-held concerns about the impact of scallop dredging in the special area of conservation in Cardigan Bay.

She said: “Scallop dredging, like other forms of dredging, is an incredibly destructive fishing practice – the entire structure of the seabed is damaged as rakes are dragged along.”

Her Labour colleague Carolyn Thomas said she was horrified to watch Sir David Attenborough’s Ocean documentary film. But she added: “It did say there was hope, that if bottom trawling ended – the ecosystems, the biodiversity could soon recover.”

Tom Giffard warned of recent legislative changes leading to people descending on Penclawdd, Gower, to pick cockles without regard for restoring the seabed.

Pointing out that people have been picking cockles at Penclawdd since Roman times, the Conservative said: “Residents are very worried that the seabed is not being protected and the future viability of cockles in Penclawdd is not being protected either.”

‘Overregulation’

Sam Kurtz, a fellow Conservative, expressed similar concerns about the extractive nature of the harvesting of razor clams in Saundersfoot for “personal use”.

But his Tory colleague James Evans called for a balanced approach between economic and environmental considerations, saying:  “I do worry sometimes about banning things or overregulation for the simple reason that a lot of our fishermen make a living out of the sea.”.

Huw Irranca-Davies, the Deputy First Minister who is responsible for environment policy, described the use of bottom trawling around Wales as relatively limited.

He told the Senedd the main king scallop fishery in Wales is managed under a joint fisheries management plan with England to ensure long-term sustainability.

Mr Irranca-Davies pledged to take a proportionate, evidence-led approach to restrictions. “We have robust management processes in place to protect our marine environment,” he said. “And we will react to any evidence which confirms the need for additional measures.”