Puffins, porpoises, and pine martens are some of the species set to benefit from new measures set out by the UK government today, 31 January, to boost nature recovery on land and at sea. The new plans – announced one year on from the launch of the Environmental Improvement Plan – will see a permanent closure of the sandeel fisheries in English waters of the North Sea from April, further targeted restrictions on damaging bottom trawling and a new framework for national parks and protected areas to help them better deliver for nature.

Sandeels are a vital food source for some of our most vulnerable seabirds and marine mammals, such as the iconic puffin and harbour porpoise, and commercially important fish species such as haddock and whiting. This closure will bolster the resilience of these species and make space for nature to recover across our marine habitats.

Important pink sea fans, fragile sponges, anemones will also be further boosted with a targeted ban announced on bottom trawling in an additional 13 Marine Protected Areas to safeguard over 4,000km² of seabed – in total, an area equivalent to the size of Essex. Today’s announcement increases the total area of English seabed protected from bottom trawling to 12% in areas off the south coast of the Isle of Wight, west of Land’s End and east of Lowestoft.

Much of the carbon stored in the UK’s seafloor (93%) is found in the muddy and sandy sediments in offshore waters. When the seabed is trawled, stored carbon is released into the water column, negatively impacting water chemistry and ocean productivity. When left undisturbed, these habitats store carbon, and recover to provide vital habitats for young fish and many other sea creatures.

Gareth Cunningham, Director of Conservation and Policy at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “You would assume that designating an area as a ‘Marine Protected Area’ would protect the site from damaging activities. Regrettably, this has not been the reality for many sites, with effective management measures often slowly implemented. Today’s announcements are crucial in properly protecting our seas.”

To bring us closer to achieving the global goal to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, a new framework for National Parks and National Landscapes to help them better deliver for nature and access will also be published. This builds on the commitments the government set out at COP28, including a map which demonstrates which areas of land could contribute to the 30by30 target in England.

In response to the news, Oceana UK’s executive director, Hugo Tagholm, said: “The new ban on industrial fishing for sandeels is unequivocally the right decision and should be applauded. Sandeels are tiny fish – but their impact is vast. As the mainstay of many marine food webs, protecting these fish helps protect our awe-inspiring ocean wildlife. Up to half the diet of whales such as humpback and minke is made up of sandeels, for instance.”

“The next steps are to extend this ban beyond the North Sea to throughout UK waters, working in partnership with the devolved administrations. Secondly, we must not forget other small fish that are also vital food for ocean life. Sprat, for example, are important for harbour porpoises and grey seals, yet catches have persistently exceeded the scientific advice – the government needs to act to protect them too. Our marine life is already facing multiple severe threats: from industrial fishing to the climate crisis, diseases like avian flu and pollution of many kinds. Protecting these fish and habitats is a vital part of building the resilience of our seas,” he added.

In response to the partial bottom trawling ban, he said that the new ban “on bottom trawling on reef and rock habitats in 13 marine protected areas is a welcome step forward in the race to properly protect 30% of our seas by 2030”. He added: “This highly destructive practice bulldozes marine habitats, and can destroy them in minutes, often never to recover. But the fact that this ban is only for reef and rock habitats and only in 13 MPAs still leaves vast swathes of our so-called ‘protected’ areas open to this extremely harmful practice.”