Fleetwood trawlerman fears livelihood will be lost through ban
The measures are being considered by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and a 12-week consultation is running until 1 September.Morecambe Bay, where Mr Worthington fishes, is among the 42 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) being considered for the move.It said habitats and species are at risk from damaging fishing activity and their protection and recovery will contribute to healthier marine ecosystems and support the long-term sustainability of commercial fish stocks.Mr Worthington has two small commercial fishing vessels - a trawler and a prawner - which are under 33ft (10m).The fisherman, who has been in the trade since he was a teenager, said: "If they go ahead with this, it will force me to fish out of my area and I'll be 20 miles out. "That is too far for a small boat like mine, it isn't safe."We have already been barred from some of our existing fishing grounds and now this. How do they expect us to make a living?"
The UK's National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations has pushed back on the claims of environmental impact with chief executive Mike Cohen previously saying: "Trawling does not damage most of the seabed."Trawls penetrate the sediment very little, if at all, in most areas and trawling has been carried out for well over 100 years."Mr Worthington, who is based in Jubilee Quay, is one of a handful of Fleetwood fishermen left from the once huge industry in the town, which dramatically collapsed when deep sea fishermen were banned from their traditional fishing grounds off Iceland after the final Cod War in 1979.MMO acting chief executive Michelle Willis said: "Our latest proposals are based on draft fisheries assessments which have concluded management measures are necessary to ensure, beyond reasonable scientific doubt, that the conservation objectives of the MPAs included in the stage can be achieved."
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