The United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) recently announced a plan to introduce five Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) to aid marine ecosystem recovery.
2020年的报告from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization finds that 59.6 percent of fish stocks are “maximally sustainably fished.” Since 1990, there has been a 122 percent increase in fish consumption and the global appetite for fish is only growing. Worldwide capture fishery production reached 96.4 million tonnes in 2018, the highest level ever recorded.
“我们必须在支持可持续行业的同时增加对海洋的保护,以确保健康,韧性和多样化的海洋生态系统,”英国环境部长乔治·尤斯蒂切斯(George Eustice)says in a statement.
2021年民意调查conducted by DEFRA and the Ocean Conservation Trust finds that 57 percent of people in England and Wales rated ocean health as poor or very poor. Respondents feel that the greatest threats to the marine environment were plastic pollution, chemical pollution, and overfishing. Seventy-eight percent of respondents say that they have or are willing to make lifestyle changes to protect the ocean.
HPMAs are defined areas of the sea protected from industrial fishing practices. These techniques include bottom trawling—which involves dragging a heavily-weighted net along the bottom of the seafloor—and any other activities requiring extraction, destruction, or deposition. These practices can causetremendous damageto fragile marine ecosystems and catch non-target species such as corals, turtles, dolphins, and seabirds.
HPMA将补充已经存在的海洋保护区(MPA),占英国水域的百分之四十。MPA旨在帮助生态系统恢复,同时还允许可持续的捕鱼实践继续进行。但是调查2020年的大洋洲(Oceana)表明,底部的拖网和挖泥发生在英国各地的MPA的97%。Oceana的调查还表明,许多MPA站点缺乏强大的管理,专注于仅保护一个栖息地或物种,从而可以进行其他破坏性活动。
2020年6月,前环境和渔业部长理查德·贝尼恩(Richard Benyon)出版了审查由英国国务卿委托,得出的结论是,HPMA是保护工作的重要组成部分。作为回应,英国政府announcedtheir intent to introduce the areas into UK waters.
此后,英国概述了站点选择过程这将评估潜在HPMA站点的生态,社会和经济影响。许多组织将参与包括Defra在内的潜在站点的评估;联合自然保护委员会;自然英格兰;环境,渔业和水产养殖中心;海洋管理组织;近海渔业与保护当局协会;和环境局。
But the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO), which represents fishers across the UK, has expressed concern about the HPMA selection process. NFFO points out that the first stage of the HPMA nomination process is exclusively focused on ecological criteria and does not account for socio-economic impacts until later.
NFFO的助理主管戴尔·罗德梅尔(Dale Rodmell)告诉《食品坦克》(Food Tank),“故意忽w88优德老虎机平台略了HPMAS选择中的人类使用问题是傻瓜的游戏。我们需要以保护鱼类种群和生态系统的最协同方式从海鲜中得出蛋白质。如果我们忽略如何最好地与食品生产和谐相处,那就是我们寻求保护的生态系统的不利条件。”
Proponents of HPMAs posit that fishers stand to benefit from HPMAs, as healthy fish stocks will spill over into the surrounding waters. But Rodmell tells Food Tank, “There are often unintended consequences resulting from displaced fishing that can negate any effects from spillover.” For example, when fishers lose access to one area, they may be forced into another that is further away and already highly-populated by fishers. According to Rodmell, this can lead to increased competition among marine users and spatial conflicts.
Meanwhile, environmental groups are urging the UK government to act swiftly and impose stricter protections more broadly. Chris Thorne, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK呼叫HPMA至关重要的,但仅在正确的方向上只有一小步,直到站点显着缩放为止。
DEFRA plans to develop a list of potential sites by the end of 2021 and designate five sites in 2022.
照片提供马丁·塞普,Unplash