Supertrawler Magiris spent 90 hours fishing off south coast waters as Greenpeace calls for ban on vessels

The Lithuanian-registered Margiris fishing boat, the second largest of her kind, was seen in October last year in the Solent to fish in Marine Protected Areas.

Margiris, banned from fishing in Australian waters in 2013 and owned by Dutch company Parlevliet who claim an ‘excellent reputation for sustainable fishing’, was spotted off the coast of Sussex and Portsmouth in October.

The controversial vessel can process up to 250 tonnes of fish a day.

Greenpeace today is calling on the ban of supertrawlers after revealing such boats spent nearly 3,000 hours in MPAs.

Margiris spent nearly 15 hours fishing in the Wight-Barfleur Reef near to Portsmouth, 69 hours fishing in Offshore Overfalls- just to the east of the Wight-Barfleur Reef – and six hours in the Offshore Brighton MPA.

In total vessels spent more than 136 hours fishing in MPAs off the English south coast lastyear.

James Sebley from Greenpeace Portsmouth Local Group, said: ‘I’m horrified to discover that the protected areas off the south coast are being exploited by industrial fishing giants, and that this is happening legally.

‘For the UK government to be taken seriously as a leader in marine protection, it must ban supertrawler operations in the UK’s Marine Protected Areas.

‘Current negotiations with the EU on fishing rights provide the perfect chance to do this. Please support our call to end industrial fishing in MPAs, by signing our petition.’

Greenpeace investigators used AIS tracking data from the Lloyds Register for all fishing boats over 100m to assess the amount of time spent fishing in UK MPAs. AIS tracking data is available on request.

In total, supertrawlers logged 2,963 hours fishing in UK marine protected areas in 2019 (the equivalent of 123 days), Greenpeace said.

A Defra spokesman said: ‘The UK is a global leader in the fight to protect our seas with our Blue Belt of protected waters nearly twice the size of England.

‘The Common Fisheries Policy currently restricts our ability to implement tougher protection, but leaving the EU and taking back control of our waters as an independent coastal state means we can introduce stronger measures.’

Campaigner James added: ‘Greenpeace Portsmouth Group has been campaigning for several years to protect our oceans. As a coastal city, we know how important our oceans are for food, tourism and tackling climate change.

‘In February, we held a photo exhibition to showcase the beauty of our oceans, and we’ve also dressed up as penguins to call for an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary, and celebrated World Oceans Day with a blue wave.

'On June 17, following on from World Oceans Day on June 8, join us online to watch a documentary Four Corners, about the Australian campaign to ban supertrawlers.’

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