Speeches by Gardiner.

“Well, indeed.”

“I totally agree with you. What are the strategies, though, that we could be recommending? Let me ask this in another way. What does the H stand for?”

“I asked what management strategies we could adopt within our marine protected areas that would effectively protect them. I made reference to the fact that so much of our MPAs is, at the moment, subject to bottom trawling and to dredging. I asked you to give recommendations, perhaps, that this Committee might make to Go…”

“If you look at the last marine strategic framework, I think you will find that, according to the science, you had set 15 indicators. They included metrics for birds, fish, commercial fish, pelagic habitats, benthic habitats, food webs, seals and crustaceans. Eleven of those 15 were found to be in poor condition.”

“Let me try a different tack, because I am trying to get some meaty recommendations out of you. Let us look at the likely impacts of climate change on the features in our MPAs. Let me start with a preliminary question. Do you consider as a scientist that looking at our MPAs from the point of view of their features, rath…”

“Could I say that you would agree that one of the recommendations that this Committee might profitably make would be for the Government to adopt a whole-site approach to marine protected areas, rather than simply looking at specific features?”

“Absolutely. You are here as scientists. That is why you are here, and that is what we respect. Thank you. WWF published its ocean report saying that the potential impact of climate change on the oceans amounted to $8.4 trillion. Is that a figure that you recognise? Are there other ways that you would like to express th…”

“Certainly, natural capital is something that this Committee is desperately interested in, and it would be very good to have that from you. I would like to ask you to turn your attention to the management strategies that could ensure that our MPAs were more than paper parks, and that they were actually adequately protec…”

“The answer is no, isn’t it?”

“They are more likely to take it from people like yourself than they are from people like us.”

“Can I ask you to focus on the strategies that we could take, and with specific reference to the ones that I have mentioned, in terms of protecting our MPAs?”

“I asked what management strategies we could adopt within our marine protected areas that would effectively protect them. I made reference to the fact that so much of our MPAs is, at the moment, subject to bottom trawling and to dredging. I asked you to give recommendations, perhaps, that this Committee might make to Go…”

“I totally agree with you. What are the strategies, though, that we could be recommending? Let me ask this in another way. What does the H stand for?”

“Well, indeed.”

“In practice, what is the difference between a highly protected marine area and a protected marine area?”

“They are what most members of the public would consider protected?”

“In practice, we need to start making sure that the activities that are being carried out in the marine protected areas, which are not being carried out in the highly marine protected areas, are not carried out, do we not?”

“Good. That is what I need. Thank you.”

“I know I must finish, Chair. Thank you for being so indulgent. I will just ask you about one last figure. We started off by talking about 30% of our oceans and 30% of the seas being protected. Do you recognise that, at the moment, the area of highly protected marine areas, which you and I agreed was what the public wou…”

“If you cannot verify it at the moment, could you write to us and give us any alternative figures?”