UK MPs call for ban on bottom trawling in protected marine areas

Bottom trawling is one of the most damaging forms of fishing, say experts. Photograph: Colin Munro/Alamy

Ministers must ban bottom trawling for fish in marine protected areas, an influential group of MPs has said, because the destructive practice is devastating the seabed and marine life.

The UK parliament’s environmental audit committee called for a ban to encompass dredging and mining as well as the bottom trawling of fish in the 900,000 sq km covered by nearly 180 marine protected areas.