Jersey, a Channel Island near the coast of France, has more than tripled the share of its territorial waters protected from trawling and dredging, from 6.5% to 21.7%, the island’s government said September 1, 2026.
The newly protected areas cover shallow reefs and sensitive habitats including maerl beds (slow-growing beds of pink coralline algae), seagrass meadows, and kelp forests. These habitats act as nurseries and feeding grounds for fish and other marine life, so the aim is to let them recover from the disturbance dredging and trawling cause.
The change followed three years of consultation with Jersey and French fishing crews and environmental groups. Jersey’s government says it will keep monitoring the new zones and continue working with fishers as they adjust to the new boundaries.
The expansion also counts toward Jersey’s commitments under OSPAR, an agreement to protect the North-East Atlantic, and the global target of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. Read the Government of Jersey announcement for the full list of protected zones.
An archival aerial view of Les Écréhous, Jersey. Photo: Tswgb / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
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