Pic by PA
TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall led a march to Westminster on Monday to urge the Government to do more to protect UK seas.
He was accompanied by hundreds of supporters, many in fish-related fancy dress, waving banners and placards that urged ministers to increase the number of marine conservation areas to give badly damaged habitats and depleted fish stocks a chance to recover.
The march gathered outside the Houses of Parliament, calling for the creation of 127 marine conservation areas. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has so far planned to create 31 sites by the end of this year, but the celebrity chef warns this is not enough.
“This is the sort of opportunity that may not come again,” he says. “We might not have such a vital and appropriate time frame as we’ve got right now to make real changes. If we leave it too much later, too much damage will have been done. It will be hard for a lot of the areas to recover.”
I’m reminded of a quote by Ansel Adams: “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.”