Last July I visited , a nature reserve on the north-east coast of England managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Throughout the spring and summer, around half a million seabirds nest on the precipitous chalk cliffs, making a cacophonous riot that is one of the most spectacular sights in the nature-denuded UK. A significant proportion of the world’s population of northern gannets breeds there, as do kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and – the star attraction – Atlantic puffins. Whales and dolphins can be seen offshore, though I was out of luck that day. All of these animals depend, to a lesser or greater extent, on sand eels, a collective term for several species of small marine fish. Puffins are especially reliant on them; one of the iconic sights of Bempton is a puffin with a row of the small, silvery fish dangling from its colourful beak.
But humans also catch sand eels. We don’t eat them, but rather turn them into fertiliser and fishmeal for the aquaculture industry. North Sea stocks are overfished and, not coincidentally, seabird numbers there have also fallen. In UK waters, birds that eat sand eels have declined by 60 to 70 per cent in recent years, according to Charles Clover, co-founder and executive director of the conservation group and author of . Puffins are now officially classed as globally vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are also on the UK’s Red List of species most in need of conservation. Kittiwakes are on both lists too.
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Last year the UK government banned sand eel fishing in the English North Sea and all Scottish waters in response to scientific evidence that . The government’s ability to do this is down to our departure from the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, one of the few tangible benefits of Brexit. But the Danish sand eel fleet, which holds about 96 per cent of the EU’s quota, doesn’t want to lose access to UK waters, which make up around half of its traditional fishing area. Dogger Bank in the North Sea – which is about halfway between Bempton and the west coast of Denmark – is especially important. It also happens to be where the Bempton puffins go to feed during their breeding season.
It's a fight between niche capitalism and the public interest; it's one of the biggest of our time
Denmark challenged the ban under the terms of the post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU, with the EU’s backing. It is the first legal test of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which, among other things, sets out fishing rights. Attempts to resolve the issue amicably came to naught and the case found its way to the , an international dispute resolution body based in The Hague in the Netherlands. The court held hearings in January, at which Denmark and the EU reportedly challenged the scientific evidence underpinning the fishing ban. They also claimed the ban was “discriminatory” against Denmark because it has the largest sand eel fleet. The UK stands by the evidence and points out that the ban applies to all EU nations, so isn’t discriminatory. The court is expected to rule in April. There is no path to appeal.
This might feel like a local, bureaucratic skirmish over a relatively trivial fishery, but the outcome could have significant ramifications for global marine conservation efforts.
I am not generally impressed by the UK’s environmental record, but on marine conservation it is a trailblazer – one of only two countries in the world to have already achieved the global target of conserving 30 per cent of territorial waters by 2030. Admittedly, the vast majority of that surrounds remote British Overseas Territories such as Pitcairn and Ascension Island, but credit where it is due.
A UK loss could be dire. France has already claimed it has the right to bottom trawl in the UK’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), presumably including those around overseas territories. These are out of bounds to industrial fishing; the ban generally holds because of draconian penalties for breaching it. But the court may also judge them to be in breach of the law. “If we lose the sand eel case we’ll lose the offshore MPAs, our government is convinced of that,” Clover told the recent in Cambridge, UK. “It’s a fight between niche capitalism and the public interest; it’s one of the biggest of our time,” he said. On such tiny fish, rare and precious global conservation successes may founder.
Just before Christmas, I went back to Bempton. The seabirds were mostly gone, away at their winter feeding grounds. It was cold and eerily quiet. The birds will be back in numbers this spring, but if the sand eel case goes the wrong way, for how much longer?
Graham’s week
What I’m reading
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. Part one of a classic fantasy trilogy, The Kingkiller Chronicle.
What I’m watching
Season two of Severance on Apple TV+. Worth the subscription alone.
What I’m working on
Buying a new house.
Graham Lawton is a staff writer at 91av and author of Mustn’t Grumble: The surprising science of everyday ailments. You can follow him @grahamlawton
