Marine Management Organisation
Details
Managing fishing in MPAs
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is the governments principal regulator for most activities in English waters, including the management of activities in marine protected areas (MPAs).
Current proposed byelaw consultation
MMO has launched a formal consultation open from the 17 January 2023 to 28 March 2023, seeking views on a proposed byelaw to manage bottom towed fishing gear in 13 MPAs. This follows the call for evidence on the MMO assessment of the impact of bottom towed gears on rock and reef MPA features held from 14 May to 10 July 2022. The MPAs are:
- Cape Bank
- East of Haig Fras
- Farnes East
- Foreland
- Goodwin Sands
- Haig Fras
- Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton
- Hartland Point to Tintagel
- Lands End and Cape Bank
- North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef
- Offshore Brighton
- South of Celtic Deep
- Wight-Barfleur Reef
Please see the map at the bottom of this page which illustrates the different stages of MMOs work on managing fishing in MPAs.
To respond to this call for evidence and access further information, please see our dedicated page.
MMO byelaws
The first four MMO byelaws to manage fishing in offshore MPAs came into force on 13 June 2022. This followed a call for evidence on the evidence base and assessment, and formal consultation on the byelaws. This work formed Stage 1 of the MMOs work to manage fishing in offshore MPAs in England, and included the following MPAs:
- The Canyons;
- Dogger Bank;
- Inner Dowsing, Race Bank and North Ridge; and
- South Dorset.
The byelaws prohibit the use of bottom towed fishing gear in all four sites and introduce additional restrictions for static gears over sensitive features in two of the sites.
These first four MPAs were chosen as a priority in Stage 1 to help protect their vibrant and productive undersea environments, and include Dogger Bank, which has the largest shallow sandbank in British waters and supports commercial fish species such cod and plaice, as well as sand eels that provide an important food source for kittiwakes, puffins and porpoises. Please see the map at the bottom of this page which illustrates the