EU advisory councils NWWAC and NSAC warn UK Stage 3 MPA bans will backfire, harming sustainability and EU fleets
UK’s Stage 3 MPA Proposals Could Displace Fleet Activity and Damage Ecosystems, EU Councils Say
The North Western Waters Advisory Council (NWWAC) and the North Sea Advisory Council (NSAC) have jointly criticised the UK’s Stage 3 Marine Protected Area (MPA) consultation, warning it risks severely undermining EU fishing access, food sovereignty, and marine sustainability.
In a letter sent on 23 July to Costas Kadis, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, the councils argue that the consultation launched by the UK Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is poorly timed and structurally flawed. “Opening a twelve-week consultation, during the summer holidays, on forty-two areas with thousands of pages of technical documents… does not constitute a proper consultation,” the statement read.
Thanks to intervention by the European Commission, the UK has agreed to a four-week extension. However, the councils remain concerned that the underlying measures are more restrictive than those seen in the previous stages of MPA designation and fail to account for their wide-reaching implications.
Fleet Access and Food Security at Risk
The current proposals would implement bottom-towed gear bans in 42 MPA sites, including 12 in the North Sea and 29 across the North Western Waters, with five additional zones facing closures to static gear such as nets, pots, and lines. These restrictions, if enacted, could displace significant fishing effort from EU fleets, affecting at least 349 vessels across Spain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, according to preliminary estimates cited in the letter.
“The MPAs… are more restrictive in the prohibition of bottom-towed gears than was originally described,” the advisory councils warned. They argue that such measures will cause effort displacement, increase pressure on non-restricted areas, and ultimately generate negative cumulative impacts on habitats and fish stocks in European waters.
Legal and Political Consequences Cited
The letter also challenges the ecological assumptions underpinning the MMO’s MPA rationale, noting that Stage 3 focuses on common habitat types “with lower ecological value” and criticises the idealised notion of a pristine marine environment in areas historically fished for centuries.
Moreover, NWWAC and NSAC request the European Commission to examine whether these MPA restrictions violate the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). “These measures will prevent European fleets from fishing for the quotas they are entitled to,” they stated, suggesting that the Commission could consider “remedial measures” under Article 506 of the TCA, including suspension of tariff preferences.
The letter concludes with a call for political action by the Commission and a commitment from the sector to submit alternative management proposals backed by evidence and data. However, it warns that effective engagement depends on having a “reasonable timeframe to complete the necessary analyses.”
NWWAC Chair Alexandra Philippe and NSAC Chair Kenn Skau Fischer signed the letter on behalf of their respective advisory councils.