Environmental activist group Geenpeace UK dropped several boulders in the Southern North Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) in a bid to prevent bottom trawling in the area.
The groups claims the boulders will act as an underwater barrier against bottom trawling, closing off 116 square kilometers of waters along the U.K.’s east coast. The MPA, which was established to protect harbor porpoises, does not include a ban on bottom trawling. Greenpeace UK said analysis showed bottom trawlers spent 37,200 hours fishing the MPA last year.
“Destruction on a huge scale is happening near our shores out of sight, in places we’re told are ‘Marine Protected Areas,’” Greenpeace UK Co-executive Director Will McCallum said in a release. “Hulking great ships prowl our oceans day after day, stripping them of fish and killing precious wildlife like dolphins, sharks, and sea birds.”
The action was supported by several members of Parliament and actors Simon Pegg and Benedict Cumberbatch, who signed the nine giant boulders before they were dropped from Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise.
“With our ship and a movement behind us, we’re doing what the government isn’t: Protecting our seas. We’re setting a bold challenge to ministers: Ban destructive fishing across all our protected waters at home, and lead the charge for a network of global ocean sanctuaries across the Atlantic,” McCallum said.
Greenpeace has used this tactic to hamper or prevent bottom trawling before; in 2008, the group dropped granite boulders in a Special Area of Conservation in the German North Sea, and in 2009 another 40 boulders were dropped in a Natura 2000-listed area between Sweden and Denmark. More recently in 2020, Greenpeace dropped boulders in the Adlergrund Marine Reserve in the German Baltic Sea, and in 2022 the group dropped boulders off the coast of Cornwall, England.
The UK government criticized the group, although it did not indicate any intent to take action against the activists.
"As England's marine regulator, we are very disappointed that Greenpeace has chosen to take this action to drop boulders to form a barrier, as we don't believe it is justified or will help protect our marine environment,” the U.K.’s Marine Management Organisation (MMO) said.
“We have strict legislation in place to protect our marine environment while supporting sustainable fishing and coastal communities,” a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spokesperson said in response, according to The Guardian. “All Marine Protected Areas are safeguarded by legislation, with damaging fishing activities banned in more than 100 sites and we are also considering further restrictions where there may be benefits in doing so. Activities at sea should be carried out lawfully and with due regard for the safety of other sea users.”
