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Observer 26th March 2006

Plea to protect wildlife on our 'dying seabeds' - Green groups say government's marine bill will put fishing and oil before conservation

Robin McKie & Gaby Hinsliff, March 26th '06, 'The Observer'

Ministers will face a concerted attack from green groups this week when the government announces a marine bill which critics say 'puts the environment last'. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will launch its bid to save Britain's seas from dying of neglect, announcing it is to begin consultations over the bill which will seek to replace the bewildering array of different laws that control the oil wells, fishing and endangered species round our coasts.

A total of 36 acts currently control oil drilling, fishing and extraction of building materials from the seabed. Under the government's plans a single legislative body will replace most of these.
Environmental groups say endangered fish, sea plants and cold-water corals are still going to be treated as subsidiary problems when questions of oil drilling, installation of off-shore windfarms and fishing are being considered.

'We have been negotiating with the civil servants for six years about this bill,' said Joan Edwards of the Wildlife Trusts organisation. 'Now the government has revealed its plans and there is only passing reference to protecting marine life.'

Green groups say the seabed around Britain is now being turned into featureless deserts of sand and mud. Intense forms of fishing are ripping up the sea floor. In the Channel, rare beds of sunset corals and sea fan shellfish are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Similarly, basking sharks and seahorses are being killed off. We are going to lose all these precious types of marine wildlife,' added Edwards.
The Wildlife Trusts, in common with other green groups, are pressing for the setting up of protected seabed zones, the equivalent of Sites of Special Scientific Interest on land protected under environment legislation. At present there is no mention of them in the government's plans.

'The problem is that existing legislation just has not worked,' said Janet Brown of the World Wildlife Fund. She cited the example of Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland which once possessed vast colonies of horse mussels. Then fishermen began intense dredging of the lough which destroyed the mussel beds. Although it was designated a marine reserve, the fishing went on and the horse mussels have since been destroyed.

'Shipping, oil drilling, aggregate mining - we get 20 per cent of our sand for cement from the seabed - and windfarms always get priority over marine life,' said Melissa Moore, of the Marine Conservation Society. 'We are very nervous that is not going to change very much.'

The row over the marine bill consultation comes as the government prepares this week to unveil its plans to reduce the environmental damage done by politicians during trips abroad. From next weekend - too late to cover the Prime Minister's week-long trip to Brussels, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East - all official flights will be subject to 'carbon offsetting'.

For every flight, the government will calculate how much carbon dioxide has been emitted and pay it off with an equivalent amount of tree planting, funding for low-energy projects in developing countries, or installing low-energy lightbulbs or solar heaters. The move follows a rather less successful initiative of offering ministers hybrid electric cars. While some did opt for the eco-friendly Toyota Prius, the Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett, was among those plumping for a rather less green Jaguar.
Beckett will this week publish the government's long-awaited climate change review, due to show how Britain can meet targets to slash carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. It will argue that saving the planet could also help individuals save money, with the extension of schemes offering £100 off council tax to people prepared to put cavity wall insulation into their homes.

However, with the government unable to agree targets for reducing emissions from business, green groups are warning that the review could be a missed opportunity to make a genuine difference.