WWF says that whilst strides are being made, the same level of protection is not being afforded to important wide-ranging species such as harbour porpoise, despite the fact that Member States are legally required to do so.
In the last 50 years, there has been a decline in harbour porpoise numbers in seas around the UK. Threats include accidental capture in fishing gears, pollution that potentially affects their health, acoustic and physical disturbance, reduced availability of prey, disease, and possibly climate change.
Germany and the Netherlands have both undertaken additional survey work within the Dogger Bank area which led to their designation including harbour porpoise but the UK has failed to do so.
Ali Champion, WWF-UK marine policy officer, said:
“For too long the harbour porpoise has been overlooked. To secure the long term protection of this species around our shores it is important that we use all tools at our disposal and this includes the use of dedicated well managed marine protected areas.
“WWF urges the UK government to conduct survey work at and around the Dogger Bank and other priority sites, to establish more detailed information on the harbour porpoise in support of SAC designations for this species.”
Dogger Bank is a important fishing ground and included in the 3rd offshore wind farm licensing round.
Harbour porpoises are widely distributed in UK waters, which makes it difficult to identify individual sites that will be critical for the population as a whole. However,WWF says it is possible to identify a number of sites that are used regularly by a significant number of porpoises, and which provide a network of locations that encompass the range of physical and biological factors that are essential to their life and reproduction – as required under the Habitats directive.
Nearly 20 years after it adopted the directive, the UK has yet to submit any sites for the harbour porpoise to the European Commission. This includes sites in which the harbour porpoise is a primary reason for selection and sites in which the species is listed as a qualifying feature.