The Third Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World, held in Monterey, California, in September 2012, reports: “During the last 20 years, it has been established that the pH of the world’s oceans is decreasing as a result of anthropogenic CO2. (i.e. growing more acidic). “The ocean continues to acidify at an unprecedented rate […]
» 2013
- The Oceans are acidifying at a rate faster than any in the last 300 million years
- Can the new reformed CFP protect fish stocks?
- Migratory bottlenose dolphins hit by virus on US eastern seaboard
- Australian government equivocating over the monitoring of Japanese whaling
- Portrait of a coastal nature reserve in Suffolk
- New report on the definition of “maximum sustainable yield” in fisheries
- Debate grows over new Hinkley C nuclear power station
- OSPAR announces increased protection for iconic biodiversity in NE Atlantic
- UK Fisheries Minister is reported to be contesting ICES fisheries advice
- Proposal for the Isle of Arran MPA receives strong support
- Is economics, rather than conservation, behind recent offshore windfarm cancellations?
- Argyll Array offshore windfarm development cancelled
- Do 16 ships still create as much pollution as all the cars in the world?
- Australian government approves new port dredging near Great Barrier Reef
- Fishing for plastic in the Southern Ocean
- Major North Sea Surge impacts Hemsby
- Scrutiny to be given to “hidden costs” of nuclear power
- Defra study says 2% of the population are recreational sea anglers
- Norfolk Sea defence scheme abandoned
- Continuing evidence of “climate change” affecting UK seas
We publish here the introduction to a discussion initiated by the journalist, Karl Mathiesen, in The Guardian on 17th December 2013, along with a link to the comments that this discussion generated online, concerning the question whether the reformed Common Fisheries Policy is capable of protecting fish stocks. Mr. Mathiesen opened the discussion by stating: […]
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The Guardian reports, 23rd December 2013: “More than 1,000 migratory bottlenose dolphins have died from a measles-like virus along the US eastern seaboard in 2013 and the epidemic shows no sign of abating. The death toll exceeds the 740 dolphins killed during the last big outbreak of the then unknown virus in 1987-88. “It is […]
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The Guardian reports, 20th December 2013: “Greg Hunt, the Australian environment minister, appears to have missed a self-imposed deadline to send a vessel to monitor the Japanese whaling fleet, which is homing in on the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. Hunt said the government was still committed to monitoring whaling, but that he would “have more […]
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Matt Shardlow writes in The Guardian, 25th December 2013: “The Dingle Marshes reserve is a flat expanse of reeds and rushes nearly half a mile wide and running a mile along the coast. Behind the ridge are a string of saline lagoons — a rare habitat, home to some very special little anemones, shrimps and […]
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The Blue Marine Foundation has produced a report looking at the legality of fishing beyond maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The report, led by the University of the West of England, has two key findings: that it is illegal for coastal states to permit fishing beyond MSY; and that it is highly likely that this law […]
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The Guardian reports, 18th December 2013: “The European Commission has started an investigation into UK plans to subsidise the construction and operation of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, in a challenge to the government’s plans to overhaul Britain’s creaking energy infrastructure. On the day royal assent was finally given to the coalition’s […]
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The Oslo Paris Commission for the Protection of the NE Atlantic (OSPAROSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic made up of representatives of the Governments of the 15 signatory nations.) has announced, 19th December 2013, increased protection for species and habitats in the North East Atlantic. Their press release […]
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The Independent, 15th December 2013, reports: “The Fisheries Minister, George Eustice MP, is preparing to defy scientists by demanding higher cod quotas — in the latest instance of the Government going against expert environmental advice. George Eustice argues that reducing quotas will result in more fish being discarded — at least until 2016, when a […]
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The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) reports, December 2013: “COAST’s Treasurer Sibbie Sangster and Manager Andrew Binnie visited Holyrood last month to deliver hand-written Marine Protected Area responses to the Scottish Government. Andrew said, ‘We are delighted with the response. There has been a huge turn out in favour of the Arran MPA. We […]
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The Guardian reports, 13th December 2013: “Scottish Power has abandoned a £5.4bn plan to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm, after four years of planning, because it is “not financially viable”. The decision not to go ahead with the Argyll Array, which would have provided green energy for 1 million homes, is another blow […]
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The Guardian reports, 13th December 2013: “Plans to establish a major new windfarm in the waters of the Inner Hebrides have been dropped by energy company ScottishPower Renewables. The company said the Argyll Array project was currently not financially viable in the short term. It said hard rock at the site, off the coast of […]
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From the archives of The Daily Mail (21st November 2009), we report: “Last week [November 2009] it was revealed that 54 oil tankers are anchored off the coast of Britain, refusing to unload their fuel until prices have risen. We’ve all noticed it. The filthy black smoke kicked out by funnels on cross-Channel ferries, cruise […]
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The Guardian reports, 10th December 2013: “The Australian environment minister, Greg Hunt, has approved controversial dredging off the Queensland coast that will help create one of the world’s largest coal ports, while imposing some of the “strictest conditions in Australian history” to safeguard the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Hunt said he would allow […]
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The Guardian reports, 10th December 2013: ” Erik van Sebille is looking for something very much out of the ordinary in the Southern Ocean: plastic. He has come to one of the most remote parts of the world — as far as it is possible to go from major concentrations of people — to look […]
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The biggest North Sea surge since 1953 hit the East Anglian Coastline overnight on 5th December, resulting in flooding, loss of habitation and much damage to the homes at Hemsby Marrams, when the high tide brought in waves to further erode the dune foundations they were built on. A deep barometric low off eastern Scotland […]
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The Guardian reports, 1st December 2013: “The bill for cleaning up the huge Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria will rise even higher than its current estimated level of £70bn as operators struggle to assess the full scale of the task, according to sources close to the project. The warning comes just days before private sector […]
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The Westminster Government has published, November 2013, a Defra/MMO report [Sea Angling 2012] which states: “Sea Angling 2012 was established to find out how many people go sea angling in England, how much they catch, how much is released, and the economic and social value of sea angling. This was to help local and national […]
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The long awaited £3.9 million sea defence scheme promised to shore up sea defences and so protect some 200 homes from the sea on the east coast of Norfolk has been thrown out due to a shortfall of over £3 million pounds. It was to have extended the existing rock berm from the Caister-on-Sea sea […]
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The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP, see membership listed below) has published, 28th November 2013, its latest “report card” which seeks to assess how climate change is affecting UK seas. Their press release states: ” For the first time, Arctic sea-ice coverage is considered by the report’s authors. A long-term decline is clearly apparent, […]
