Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has expressed his disappointment at the Conservative Government voting against a series of measures to protect marine wildlife and prevent overfishing.
Last night (13 October) the Conservatives voted to reject a number of amendments to the Fisheries Bill.
This included an amendment to ban supertrawlers from marine protected areas and another to prevent overfishing.
Supertrawlers are very large vessels which can collect 250 tonnes of fish in a single day using nets of up to a mile long. There are serious concerns about the impact that these trawlers can have on marine wildlife and the sustainability of fish populations.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“For the second day running the Government have voted to weaken rather than strengthen environmental protections.
“By voting against amendments last night, the Tories voted against protecting our marine environment or for creating new jobs in fishing communities.
“It shows once again that, for all their warm words, when it comes to protecting our environment they’re just the same old Tories.”