asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will increase the designation of United Kingdom waters as a marine conservation protection area to more than the present 2.25 per cent; and, if so, to what percentage. [HL3301]

Our objective is to designate an ecologically coherent network of well managed marine protected areas by 2012.

At this stage it is too early to predict the precise size and shape of the network of marine protected areas. This will depend on the outcome of work being undertaken by the statutory conservation agencies to identify sites in UK waters. This work is being taken forward with the involvement of sea users, industry and other stakeholder groups.