Boardmasters is throwing its weight behind a campaign to end destructive bottom trawling in UK marine protected areas, teaming up with ocean conservation charity Oceana and arts students from Falmouth University to spotlight the issue at this year’s festival.
Oceana, the official environmental partner of Boardmasters, has worked with the Cornish surf and music festival for several years on ocean protection initiatives, and this year the pair are going further by calling for a total end to destructive fishing in the marine protected area (MPA) that surrounds the festival’s Newquay home.
As part of the push, Falmouth University students have created original protest art, which will be displayed at The View stage throughout the event to highlight the true protection needed for UK seas.
The campaign is driven by fresh data showing the marine protected area off Newquay endured 2,494 hours of apparent bottom trawling in 2025 alone. Bottom trawling, which is permitted year-round in this MPA, involves dragging heavy nets across the seabed, destroying habitats and scooping up nearly everything in their path. The analysis was carried out by Oceana using information from Global Fishing Watch, covering the Bristol Channel Approaches marine protected area.
Boardmasters takes place from 5th to 9th August 2026 across its usual Cornish sites at Fistral Beach and Watergate Bay, with tickets and full details available at www.boardmasters.com. The festival has form when it comes to community and environmental initiatives, having previously teamed up with organisations including The Schools Consent Project to bring safeguarding education to Cornish schools.
Sustainability has been part of Boardmasters’ identity since it began in 1981, and the festival has built on that ethos in recent years through its Green Pledge and #LeaveOnlyFootprints campaign, alongside an annual impact report designed to track and improve its environmental performance. Rob Spring, Festival Director of Boardmasters, said sustainability “matters to us at Boardmasters, and we know there’s always more to do,” adding that inviting Falmouth University students to create art around the issue is “part of our ongoing effort to protect the coastline we’re lucky to call home.”
Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director of Oceana in the UK, said it was “appalling to think that while we surf the waves of Newquay’s world-class Fistral beach, out at sea ocean life and habitats are being degraded and destroyed,” stressing the need to properly protect marine sanctuaries “to safeguard ocean health and allow UK seas to thrive once again.” Oceana has notched up more than 300 conservation victories worldwide against overfishing, habitat destruction, and oil and plastic pollution, with its UK arm, based between Cornwall and London, focused specifically on ending new oil and gas licences, tackling overfishing, and banning bottom trawling in marine protected areas.
Image credits: Ollie Harrop / Howard Wood
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