Our new study shows ocean protection's worth - Marine Conservation Society

Our analysis shows a bottom trawling ban in the UK’s offshore protected areas could be worth over three billion pounds to the UK economy.

In a new report, we've calculated the cost-benefit of banning bottom-contact fishing from the UK’s offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designated to protect seabed features.

Considering the value of the services MPAs could potentially provide society, including carbon storage, removal of pollutants, nutrient cycling and recreational opportunities, we've found that, if protected from all damaging activities, the overall net benefit could amount to between £2.57 billion and £3.5 billion over a 20-year period.

Our analysis shows that initially, costs outweigh the economic gains of banning bottom-contact fishing gear. Costs include the loss of earnings by fishers, and the setting up and enforcement of the ban. However, these costs are quickly surpassed after 2-4 years, and then are entirely outweighed by the gains achieved over the mid- to long-term.

The cumulative impact of removing damaging activities becomes positive after 3-6 years of ecosystem recovery and continues to rise over the next 20 years. The initial net costs are in the order of tens of millions versus several billions in net benefits achieved over a longer period.

When the seabed is left to recover, biodiversity increases, leading to more productive seas, and improved richness and complexity of the seafloor.

You can read the full report here and find a summary of the report here. (Both PDF downloads)