Dear Mr Bench,

I am contacting you to express my support for the Marine Bill proposals which you are currently consulting on. I am concerned about the almost complete lack of marine protected areas around Britain’s coastline and the risks which our marine heritage currently faces from habitat loss, pollution of coastal zones, species loss, and the depletion of fish stocks.

Whilst our valuable terrestial parks are well protected, our marine zones are years behind in terms of the development of national parks.

I therefore urge you to implement a system of marine reserves, as recommended by the Marine Conservation Society, which would include highly protected marine reserves and nationally important marine sites, as well as species protection measures to protect rare and valuable species. Further, I would urge you to set in motion a reform of our inshore fisheries to ensure the sustainability of our future fish and seafood stocks.

Please ensure that DEFRA gives this Marine Bill the highest priority.
Yours sincerely