Greenpeace activists get the boulders ready to drop into the North Sea

Greenpeace has dropped nine boulders off the east coast of England to create a barrier that disrupts bottom trawling by fishing vessels.

The environmental campaigners' ship Arctic Sunrise released the rocks, without a licence, over the weekend about 50km (30 miles) east of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Bottom trawling involves dragging weighted nets along the seabed to catch fish, although it can harm underwater vegetation.

Greenpeace claimed it had "effectively closed 116 sq km (45 sq miles) of the Southern North Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) to bottom trawling". The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said "activities at sea should be carried out lawfully".

When asked if it had permission to drop the boulders, Greenpeace said this was a "last resort" for it, and it did not have a licence.

It said that after years of meeting with politicians and the government to try to protect marine protected areas, progress had been "at a glacial pace".

The boulders were dropped from Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise at the weekend off eastern England

Greenpeace added that bottom trawling could leave harbour porpoises, external, marine mammals which are found all over the UK's coast, with low fish stocks to feed on.

It added that the noise pollution of trawling disrupted the porpoises' ability to hunt and that the MPA had been designated to protect the animal.

A Defra spokesperson said: "We have strict legislation in place to protect our marine environment while supporting sustainable fishing and coastal communities.

"All Marine Protected Areas are safeguarded by legislation, with damaging fishing activities banned in more than 100 sites, and we are also considering further restrictions where there may be benefits in doing so.

"Activities at sea should be carried out lawfully and with due regard for the safety of other sea users."

The MMO has published grid references for where Greenpeace said it had dropped the boulders

Greenpeace said that, external after dropping the two-tonne boulders, it had called "the authorities to tell them the co-ordinates of each placement, and they update maps to inform other vessels".

The Southern North Sea MPA covers an area stretching from north of Dogger Bank (due east of Tyneside) to the Straits of Dover in the south.

The MMO has issued a notice to give the grid references for the reported positions of the nine boulders, external.

In 2022, activists dropped 18 boulders off the coast of Cornwall.

After this, the government body responsible for managing coastal waters, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), said: "As England's marine regulator, we are very disappointed that Greenpeace has chosen to take this action to drop boulders to form a barrier, as we don't believe it is justified or will help protect our marine environment."

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Joint Nature Conservation Committee: Southern North Sea Marine Protection Area