To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

(1) what steps he has put in place to protect harbour porpoises in UK waters;

(2) what progress he has made on the designation of Special Areas of Conservation for harbour porpoises under the Habitats Directive.

Protection for harbour porpoise is provided for under the EU habitats directive and Wildlife and Countryside Act, and through bycatch mitigation measures implemented under EU Regulation 812/2004.

The UK has already submitted a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for harbour porpoise in Northern Ireland. Work to identify other potential SACs for harbour porpoise, in accordance with obligations under the habitats directive, is continuing. An analysis of data for harbour porpoise in UK waters, with the aim of determining possible suitable sites for SAC designation, is due to report later this year.