Government proposals to ban damaging fishing in Dogger Bank could be a first step to the recovery of a rich array of wildlife, conservationists have said.
Under proposed bye-laws put out for consultation by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on Monday, bottom trawling would be prohibited in four English offshore marine protected areas, including Dogger Bank.
Campaigners said the move to properly protect the conservation areas would help preserve important habitats such as sandbanks, coral gardens and reefs and the wildlife they support, and boost fish stocks.
But they warned that properly conserving four marine protected areas was just the “tip of the iceberg” in the scale of the challenge to reverse declines in marine wildlife, and called for more urgent action.