The MCZs will help many places where grow coral reefs and oyster beds to remain safe from dredging and trawling.The Marine Conservation Society accepted the "significant milestone" but it warned there were still fewer than a quarter of the number of MCZs recommended by scientists to complete an "ecologically coherent" network.
Last year a two-year £8 million consultation involving the government's own science advisers recommended the creation of 127 MCZs to halt the rapid decline of lobsters, oysters and seahorses.But earlier this year, ministers announced plans to construct just around 30 zones aimed at protecting marine life on the ocean floor.
Campaigners described the plan as "pitiful" and a "bitter disappointment" - but the then environment minister Richard Benyon insisted that the scientific evidence for a large proportion of the zones was "just not up to scratch".
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