Greenpeace campaigners aboard their ship, the Sea Beaver, are crowded around a screen showing a trawler sitting on the edge of the , a marine protected area in the Channel between England and France. The ship is licensed for an especially destructive type of fishing that has grown rapidly in the last year.
The vessel is the latest in the sights of the campaigners. They have spent the past few months off the English south coast to document and deter examples of industrial fishing in England鈥檚 178 marine protected areas (MPAs), which are meant to relieve pressure on marine life and habitats by restricting environmentally harmful activities. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing this because the government has repeatedly failed to properly protect these MPAs,鈥� says of Greenpeace.
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As the Sea Beaver slowly leaves Newhaven harbour, the crew revisit their map. The outline of the trawler is hovering on the border of the MPA, which has been modified by Greenpeace鈥檚 captain with a line of skull and crossbones. Thorne鈥檚 suspicions are raised further by the trawler having apparently switched off the satellite-based automatic identification system that helps authorities monitor vessels. The crew decide to speed to its location.
Fishing is legally allowed in England鈥檚 MPAs. There are no authorities to call if the target trawler is found inside Bassurelle with its nets in the water.
Instead, the Sea Beaver鈥檚 crew are prepared for direct action. If their French-flagged target is found fishing in the protected area, Thorne explains that they will first call on it and ask it to stop. Failing that, the activists will buzz past their target in the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) being towed behind the Sea Beaver, repeating their request. As a last resort, they will interfere with fishing equipment, potentially using the big, bright yellow metal buoy sitting on their deck. That would put the Greenpeace crew at risk of arrest for criminal damage.
We are now about 2 hours away from the MPA. The campaigners are checking their equipment and recollecting the drills they ran yesterday, when they practised using the RIB while being buffeted by a hose from the main ship. Today鈥檚 conditions, hot and still with the sea almost mirror-like, are ideal for such actions, making them safer and easier to perform.
But there is still a nervousness over whether they will detect destructive fishing in Bassurelle. The trawler is one of 75 vessels licensed in the UK for fly shooting, a fishing technique also known as Danish or Scottish seining. The method involves laying heavy, weighted ropes in a diamond shape to capture entire shoals of fish. The ropes can be up to 3 kilometres long, can damage seabeds and are estimated to catch up to 11 times as much fish as the techniques used by inshore vessels.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a method having a resurgence. The small-scale fishing fleet in Newhaven are really concerned at this,鈥� says Thorne. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an existential threat to their livelihoods. We are determined to show solidarity with them.鈥� The UK government, on the other hand, the method can have a lower environmental impact than other types of fishing gear, because it can be done using 鈥渓ower powered vessels with lower fuel consumption鈥�.
Arriving at the MPA, the Sea Beaver comes to a halt. As the captain cuts his engine and silence descends, herring gulls begin to land on the water behind the boat, a sign that the birds associate vessels in this area with fish. The only occasional sounds are Dover coastguard announcements, issuing warnings to look out for boats containing migrants crossing from France (, a record).
Through his binoculars, Thorne can see the trawler has its fishing gear in the water. But the ship is still just outside the MPA. It isn鈥檛 clear whether the trawler鈥檚 crew know about the MPA. They could just be keeping to the French exclusive economic zone, which goes right up to Bassurelle. In Thorne鈥檚 view, the UK鈥檚 exit from the European Union, which was supported by many in the fishing community, is an opportunity to improve this and other MPAs.
鈥淪ince Brexit has happened, the government has never had a better time to upgrade our marine protected areas,鈥� he says. Post-Brexit, the UK government has 聽on limiting some types of fishing in a handful of MPAs. A also found a need for more protections for MPAs. For now, however, there is no plan for a blanket ban on harmful fishing practices within them. 鈥淲e are committed to achieving a healthy and sustainable marine environment,鈥� says a spokesperson at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Meanwhile, the trawler is on the move. It looks like it is heading into the MPA. The sandbank here, about 15 kilometres long and 2.5 kilometres wide, is one tiny piece of a jigsaw of protected waters around the UK, and would be part of the 30 per cent of ocean that the UK government has pledged to protect by 2030. Nearly 200 governments are expected to agree the same target at a UN biodiversity summit later this year. But the limits to this and other MPAs鈥� protections show why it isn鈥檛 just area that matters.
鈥淲e need to scale up protection. However, the focus needs to be not just on the quantity but the quality,鈥� says at the UN Environment Programme, referring to efforts globally. Thorne calls England鈥檚 MPAs 鈥減aper parks鈥�, effectively just lines on a map. He and Greenpeace want to see bottom trawlers and super trawlers, including those using fly shooting, banned from MPAs. 鈥淭hat would be a really big step to protecting 30 per cent,鈥� he says.
Back in the Channel, the trawler鈥檚 anticipated move into the MPA never materialises. No one knows if the trawler was spooked by the Sea Beaver. Nonetheless, Thorne considers the day a success. 鈥淲e鈥檝e made our presence felt, and in some part protected that MPA from disruptive fishing,鈥� he says. But in the absence of tougher protections, the patrol goes on. The very next day they found a French-flagged vessel fly shooting in the same MPA.
