MARINET : Latest News

The Marine Reserves Campaign has its own website at www.marinereserves.org.uk, where you can find more details along with campaigning resources.
The number of MPs who have signed EDM 337 is now

Latest News

MA Marine Aggregates ML Marine Legislation BW Bathing Water
MR Marine Reserves RE Renewable Energy OA Ocean Acidification
PO Pollution FI Fisheries GW Global Warming CE Coastal Erosion

UK Bathing Waters : 2009 compliance (from last years analyses)

MARINET have published the performance of bathing waters throughout the United Kingdom in 2008 against the mandatory and guideline standards of the EU Bathing Water Directive, 76/160/EEC. These performance figures have been prepared by MARINET, based on data supplied by the Environment Agencies of the UK constituent countries and the Dept of Environment for Northern Ireland.

Threat to Coral

The Eastern Daily Press of 10th June '09 published the following report retailed by Tara Greaves

Norfolk scientists reveal coral threat

A disturbing report by East Anglian researchers reveals that coral reefs throughout the Caribbean have been comprehensively "flattened" in the last 40 years, which has serious implications for biodiversity and coastal defences.

It was already known that coral cover in the Caribbean is in decline but the study, by scientists at the University of East Anglia, is the first large-scale work to show exactly what this means for the architecture of the region's reefs.

Published online today by the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the researchers found that the vast majority of reefs have lost their complex structure and become significantly flatter and more uniform. The most complex reefs have been virtually wiped out.

The researchers, working with colleagues at Simon Fraser University in Canada, analysed changes in the structure of reefs using 500 surveys across 200 reefs conducted between 1969 and 2008. They found that 75pc of the reefs are now largely flat, compared with 20pc in the 1970s.

Lead researcher Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, of the UEA's School of Biological Sciences, said: "For many organisms, the complex structure of reefs provides refuge from predators. This drastic loss of architectural complexity is clearly driving substantial declines in biodiversity, which will in turn affect coastal fishing communities. The loss of structure also vastly reduces the Caribbean's natural coastal defences, significantly increasing the risk of coastal erosion and flooding."

Reversing the decline now poses a major challenge for scientists and policy-makers concerned with maintaining reef ecosystems and the security and wellbeing of Caribbean coastal communities.

UK Government says NO to highly protected marine reserves in UK Marine Bill

Despite detailed and extensive debate during April and May of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill in the House of Lords, both during its Committee and Report Stage, the Government has resisted all arguments and attempts to have highly protected marine reserves (known in the Bill as marine conservation zones or MCZs) incorporated into the text of the legislation.

The Government says that it believes in highly protected marine reserves, and indeed expects these reserves to be created, but insists that such a proscriptive act is unnecessary and would encumber the legislation without good purpose.

MARINET believes that if a specific power to create highly protected marine reserves is not written into the Bill, then there will be a retreat from this commitment by future Governments as economic and social interests argue that such a restrictive provision (no extractive activity) would prejudice their freedom. Thus, the conservation of the sea, its habitats and biodiversity, will continue to remain subordinate to economic and social interests (e.g. fishing, mineral extraction and other commercial activities).

An amendment to include highly protected marine reserves was tabled at the Report Stage in the House of Lords on 12th May 2009 (click here) by the Liberal Democrats with Crossbench support, but it was not supported by the Conservatives who, like the Government, argued that to write the provision for highly protected MCZs into the Bill was "unnecessary". Thus the amendment failed to secure enough support and was not pressed to a vote by the Liberal Democrats.

The other key purpose MARINET has argued the Marine Bill must serve is to rebuild our commercial fish stocks. At present, 88% of commercial fish stocks in EU seas are being exploited beyond their maximum sustainable yield and 30% are being exploited beyond their safe biological limit. These are the latest figure from the European Commission (see http://ec.europa.eu:80/fisheries/reform). This over-exploitation of our fisheries makes new management practices both essential and urgent, but the UK Government insists that the UK Marine Bill is not the place to address this issue. It argues that such reform can only come from the European Commission via the Common Fisheries Policy. However, as MARINET has pointed out to the UK Government, powers to prohibit fishing in spawning, nursery and other key marine areas of biodiversity already exist under the CFP (see www.marinet.org.uk/marinebill/eu2371.pdf). Moreover the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive which is now operative gives the UK conservation powers to recommend the cessation of fishing in areas of UK seas out to 200 nautical miles when conservation imperatives require. Such imperatives are defined in the Direcive as the maintenance of commercial fish stocks in a sound condition along with marine food chains (see, Annex 1 of the MSFD, www.marinet.org.uk/marinebill/euframeworkdirective.pdf).

MARINET has explained these facts to the UK Government and the political parties in the House of Lords during their consideration of the Marine Bill (www.marinet.org.uk/marinebill/legalpowers09feb.pdf). However, at the present time, no politician in the UK Parliament is prepared to act on this matter and no political party believes that the UK Marine Bill should address this issue.

It is MARINET's view that the UK Marine Bill can and must address the issue of the sustainability and re-building of the commercial fish stocks in UK seas, and that the UK Parliament has the necessary sovereign powers to do this in the UK Marine Bill.

MARINET presents evidence that offshore dredging will cause beach erosion

In a detailed study and report on the background literature and scientific studies from around the world MARINET presents evidence to the Anglian Offshore Dredging Association (AODA) that the dredging of sand and gravel from the seabed does cause coastal erosion.

This erosion involves the drawing down from beaches of their sand (known as "beach draw-down")

Firstly the depressions in the offshore seabed (pits caused due to the excavation of the seabed for its sand and gravel) result in a greater depth of water offshore and thus in larger waves and an intensified wave regime arriving on the beaches, and these more powerful waves cause greater erosion.

Secondly, the sand eroded by these larger waves and the intensified wave regime is drawn out to sea and eventually to the excavated areas.

The MARINET report also notes that beach replenishment (the practice whereby eroded beaches have their sand replaced by the aggregate dredging companies with sand excavated from offshore) is a pointless and futile exercise because the sand that is naturally on beaches is comprised mainly of grains of heavier minerals and the sand excavated from the sea bed comprises mainly grains of lighter minerals which are more easily eroded by wave action.

The remedy to beach erosion is therefore not beach replenishment, but rather preventing erosion in the first place. As offshore aggregate dredging is a primary cause of beach erosion, it makes sense to curtail this activity in areas where beach erosion is occurring.

Marine Reserves EDM approaches the "top ten"

The Early Day Motion in the House of Commons, EDM 337, is approaching the list of the "top ten" most signed EDMs in this session of Parliament out of over 1600 motions currently tabled. An Early Day Motion is tabled by Members of Parliament as an expression of opinion and as an indication of policy for future legislation.

EDM 337 has the support of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat front benches and a significant number of Labour back bench MPs and calls for highly protected marine reserves, chosen on the basis of scientific criteria, to be a part of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill currently before Parliament. Highly protected marine reserves are areas of the sea where no extractive activity takes place (including fishing) in order to protect and allow the marine ecosystem to recover, and have been recommended by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in 2004. The Royal Commission considered the impact of fishing on our seas and how fish stocks, which are under severe stress due to over fishing, can be sensibly managed and helped to recover. At present time, the Government has decided not to include highly protected marine reserves in the Marine Bill.

MARINET is campaigning for the inclusion of highly protected marine reserves, and is seeking the amendment of the Bill in the House of Lords at the present time, and its amendment again when it comes before the House of Commons in June.

EDM 337 is a very important tool in securing the amendment of the Marine Bill in the House of Commons. If enough MPs sign the EDM, the Government can be persuaded of the necessity and good sense in amending the Bill.

If your MP has not signed, you can obtain a draft letter asking for your MP to sign by visiting www.marinereserves.org.uk. MARINET believes that without highly protected marine reserves in the Marine Bill, the legislation will fail in its purpose to rebuild the health of our seas and their fish stocks. Therefore your action and the vote of your MP in this matter does count. Ask them to sign EDM 337, and to vote for this amendment of the Marine Bill.

The Day that Norfolk Shuddered

Last year the Eastern Daily Press revealed that conservation bosses were considering a radical plan to surrender a huge area of the Broads to the sea, prompting a public outcry and a vociferous campaign. Now Natural England has dropped the controversial proposals from its final report. At least six villages would have been wiped off the map, hundreds of people turned out of their homes, and thousands of acres of farmland and some of Norfolk's top wildlife sites lost to the sea.

A leaked draft report listed four possible courses of action in the Upper Thurne basin, including allowing the sea to breach defences between Horsey and Winterton, flooding 25 square miles (6,500 hectares) of the Broads as far inland as Stalham and Potter Heigham.

This devastating scenario came not from the pages of a lurid novel, but a report by the government's own conservation advisers, Natural England, as part off their plans for dealing with erosion and sea rise under the Managed Retreat. Not surprisingly, the news sparked fear, alarm, despondency, disbelief and anger in coastal communities, and although Natural England attempted to explain it as simply one of a number of scenarios in a draft report never intended for public consumption, subsequent official announcements only reinforced the impression that it was being given serious consideration.

Soon after the news broke, a campaign to fight the proposals swung into action. Hundreds of people attended public meetings and thousands signed petitions. MPs joined the battle, the issue was debated in parliament and the then flood minister Phil Woolas visited the coast last July, stating: "The scenario put forward by Natural England is not the flood defence policy of the government. I cannot see a situation where any elected government would allow the Norfolk Broads to flood."

But now it appears that Natural England have had their knuckles rapped and that following a much needed degree of consultation will belatedly publish the re-written final version of its Broads report, one of four dealing with different areas of the country. This mentions the need to consider "communities and their livelihoods — a concern totally absent from the draft document — and talks of the need for "a socially just approach" which, in this context, means compensation for anyone that loses their property to the sea.

A further report on the issue of compensation is to be seen under 'Compensation hope for erosion-threatened homes', a further Eastern Daily Press article written by Richard Batson on 30th March '09.

Visualising the Dredged Volume

Our members and readers often say that they have great difficulty in imagining what the huge volume of sand and aggregate taken from the designated offshore dredging sites looks like. Indeed, the process is not quite so simple as it would first appear. But thankfully it all rounds up quite nicely once the basic sums are done.

Firstly,to clarify 'tons' and 'tonnes'. In Europe and the English-speaking countries that are now predominantly metric, the spelling tonne, that which the take is usually expressed in, is widespread. This is now generally true in Britain, however, the ton used prior to metrication was the 'long ton' of 2240 pounds (approximately 1016 kilograms) This is so close to the tonne that most draw little distinction and continue to use the old spelling 'ton'. But do note that in United States the metric ton is little used. There the name 'ton' almost invariably refers to a short ton of 2000 lb which is about 907 kg. Anyway, we can round up a 'tonne' to a 'ton' for simplicity.

A tonne or metric ton, also referred to as a metric tonne is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms or 2204.6226 pounds to be precise. So one tonne is equivalent to 1,000,000 grams which rounds up to 2205 lbs. But sometimes shipping and industry use tons. But as aforesaid, this can be rounded up without losing accuracy.

Next, according to moisture content and stone to sand ratio, there's usually between 1.6 and 1.9 metric tonnes weight for each cubic metre of aggregate. But that related to uses a dry weight ratio of 1.72:1. Therefore, a typical take of say 24.3 million tons would give 24.3 divided by 1.72 = 13.95 million cubic metres. That's as near as dammit to 14 million cubic yards. This is best visualised by theoretically placing it on top of a town of known area. (Don't try this in practice unless you can chose Westminster).

Just divide the square area of say Buryingem-on-Sea into the cubic amount, be it metres or yards, and it will come out as to how deep the covering sand and gravel would be. A small graphic sketch showing the average roof height and/or that of the tallest building, say the church, then placing the level of dredged aggregate on top makes for an impressive picture that gets the story over in fully understandable but frighteningly visual terms. (Dare I say it 'speaks volumes ?) It could also be used to determine by what level the seabed would have been dropped to by extraction from any given surface area.

If we have a graphics expert out there it would be really appreciated if they could do such a diagram using 'Paint' or the like, or a scanned hand drawn picture, please send me a copy for our website, as we know there are many more than you out there wondering just how it would appear.

Public Consultation on Environment Agency Strategy Plans!

Residents of erosion stricken towns along the Yorkshire coast, Ravenscar, Robin Hood's Bay, Whitby Abbey, etc. are being invited to a public display on the strategy proposed by Environment Agency and will be invited to ask questions on it at the meeting to be held between 5pm and 7pm on Thursday, 7th May, at Fylingdales Village Hall in Robin Hood's Bay. All are invited to attend.

This is very good news that local knowledge is being sought, as up to now there has been widespread criticism that the issue of the risks to homes from the sea is far too dependent on armchair reports by consultants who have prior demonstrated a poor awareness and understanding of the situation. But now Scarborough Council's head of technical services, John Riby, underlined that they would be looking very much to local people to help provide solutions, saying:

"The council is leading on this, assisted by specialist consultants and would like to encourage as many local people and residents of the areas to get involved. They can attend the public meeting and contribute any local knowledge and views that may be useful in the development of the strategy. "We need to fully understand the characteristics of the area covered by this strategy in order to promote the right solutions for coastal management"

Seabed Recovery following Dredging

You will recall that the spokesman for BMAPA originally denied any damaging impact to the sea bed as a result of dredging. Following our provision of evidence disproving this claim in our objections to licence applications, this was later amended by a claim that full recovery resulted within a year of the termination of dredging operations.

A year later, following the findings published by CEFAS and HR Wallingford that no recovery was evident even after three years (see "Assessment of the rehabilitation of the seabed following marine aggregate dredging" at www.marinet.org.uk/mad/scientificstudies.html#cfn) BMAPA amended the claimed recovery period to be within 'two to three years' (see the interview with their spokesman Dr. Andrew Bellamy on our MARINET video film).

But we know that this myth has long been disputed by fisherman, who have discovered from first hand knowledge and practical experience that dredged out areas do not recover even after eighteen years. (See the findings by Rodney and Graham Burns of the Aldeburgh Fishing Guild under 'The Losses Account' in our Briefing Paper No.1 on this website and also on our MARINET video film).

Now some good news is at hand with possible remediation in sight as it was announced that CEFAS are instituting an experimental project that might just bring about recovery to dredged out areas.

This encouraging move was revealed at the the April 2009 meeting of the East Coast Dredging Liaison Committee which is made up of representatives from the MFA, The Crown Estate, Hanson Aggregates Marine Ltd, Westminster Gravels Ltd, BMAPA, ERM Cemex, UK Marine Ltd, United Marine Dredging, Britannia Aggregates Ltd, Southend Fishermen's Association, Environment Agency, DEME Building Materials, VDL Sea Aggregates and Kent and Essex SFC NFFO. (MARINET has been excluded from this committee)

The purpose of the experimental project is to set up a field trial to investigate the potential for gravel seeding as a means of restoring sediment composition in areas where dredging has resulted in an overburden of fine sediments. Specific objectives are to determine whether:

An initial attempt took place in Zone 2 within aggregate extraction Area 408 (offshore to the Humber) this chosen as the experimental site as there was some evidence for persistence of sand which may have resulted from screening operations at this site. Two 4000 tonne cargoes were dredged, using a commercial suction hopper trailer dredger, from within an active zone of Area 408 and deposited within the treatment box.

Prior to deposition, a baseline survey, using a combination of acoustic tools and grab sampling was undertaken. This survey was followed up, post deposition, by a further three surveys. Results showed that a commercial dredger, typical of those operating at extraction Area 408, could be used to undertake gravel seeding. Results also indicated that the technique was successful in increasing the proportion of gravel exposed at the seabed surface. The increase in gravel led to the establishment of a faunal community more similar to that of local gravel dominated reference sites. Although results suggest gravel seeding could be used for restoration, further work is required to assess the long-term success of the technique".

Wave energy machine approaching completion at Lowestoft

The giant Trident wave energy machine invented by Hugh-Peter Kelly, intended for placement five miles off Southwold on the Suffolk Coast in June, is rapidly approaching completion at the Small and Co boatyard at Lowestoft. Here the machine's pioneers, Trident Energy, are proudly showing off the fruits of their labours by offering invited guests the opportunity to scale the 16 metre high machine for a demonstration.

Trident Energy patented system for converting sea wave energy directly into electricity at Small & Co dock in Lowestoft.

The mechanism is simply a straight up-and-down motion of the floats in the waves. The smallest motion will create electricity and it will work in the most modest of wave conditions. Special sensors to detect stormy conditions will pull the floats up automatically and protect them from serious damage until the danger has passed.

The current test model could provide enough energy to power about 700 homes, larger wave farms based upon it could provide power for between 60,000 and 70,000 homes in the future.

Coastal Erosion could cost billions

Climatologists working for the Association of British Insurers have predicted that the cost of coastal flooding in Suffolk and north Essex could run into billions of pounds. They are basing their predictions on that sea levels on the east coast could rise by 40cms (15.75 inches) during the next 40 years and that the financial impact on Lowestoft alone would be £550 million from over 17,500 homes and commercial properties at risk of flooding.

Even if a tidal surge came about even today 3,900 homes and commercial properties valued at £550million would be at risk, and that this figure does not take into account the impact this would have on tourism in the region and the disruption to transport and roads. But by 2050 an 830% increase would result.

Although the association only examined the impact of flooding in the Lowestoft region, they report impact further down the coast would be similar, especially in those areas already at risk. They said that the majority of flooding by 2050 will be around north Essex, north Norfolk and parts of Suffolk, but that an additional 130,000 homes from Hull to London on the east coast are at risk. Nationally the Association of British Insurers predict homes at risk of coastal flooding could soar by 40 percent.

They have published a series of measures they would like to see included in the Government's final Flood and Water Management Bill to ensure that flood insurance remains widely available to more than two million homeowners and businesses in areas that are known to be at risk. Insurers have pledged to continue to provide cover to existing customers whose properties are at risk of flooding until 2013, as long as adequate flood management is in place, and have called on the Government to set targets and give the Environment Agency a statutory duty to reduce flood risk. But the Environment Agency claim that this is unachievable and say that it is not possible to protect everyone everywhere at all times from the risk of flooding.

Denuded Beach

You will have seen in our latest news the items entitled 'Nudists Feeling the Pinch' and 'Nudists no longer beached' telling how since dredging began the original 34 metre wide nudist beach at Corton in Suffolk had been reduced to just 7 metres, and how Waveney District Council felt that the 80% loss of area no longer allows sufficient spacing between the public and those wearing just a smile, so were considering closure.

That day has come, as the Council, following a three month consultation, have just given the stark news that they have axed and redesignated Corton as from November 1st this year. However, Waveney District Council has undertaken to explore potential alternative sites which are suitable for naturists but which are not currently affected by the erosion issues we have in Corton. We just hope they can find one!

Severn Tidal Power Consultation

The government is consulting not about a final decision, but over which projects should be taken forward on the shortlist for further study — or which ones should be added. Marinet supports much opinion and local people in large majority who want the "megabarrage" dropped from the shortlist.

New tidal turbine - CORMAT

A unique tidal power machine being developed at Strathclyde University. Such underwater turbines are envisaged for tethering to the seabed around the west and north coasts. With the right incentives 2000 of these turbines in a series of large tidal turbine farms could be in operation around the Scottish coast by the 2020s, researchers argue, replacing power from Hunterston and Torness nuclear plants.

Tidal power is the holy grail of renewable energy research because it offers potentially huge amounts of energy in a very predictable pattern. Because of the time lag in tides around the coast it could also supply constant power.

A team of engineers led by Cameron Johnstone from Strathclyde University's Energy Systems Research Unit has come up with a new machine which they believe could tap serious amounts of tidal energy within a few years. Looking a little like an aircraft engine with two propellers, the device uses the movement of the tides to turn turbines and generate electricity. It has two rotors designed to spin in opposite directions, giving it enough stability to operate in deep waters.

Unlike previous first-generation tidal machines, it will not be fixed to the seabed on a tower like a wind turbine, but moored by a cable. This will enable the device to move with the flow of the tide, like a kite on a windy day. The device has been christened Cormat, for Contra Rotating Marine Technology. It has already been successfully tested in the sea off Islay, and industrial backing is now being sought for a £1.6 million, 500-kilowatt commercial demonstration.

According to Johnstone, Cormat could be deployed in underwater farms off the Mull of Kintyre, in the sound of Islay, near Skye and in the Pentland Firth. "You could see tidal energy come up to complement and then potentially replace the nuclear power stations," he told the Sunday Herald. "This second generation turbine marks a new threshold in tidal energy technology, and could allow us to extract more energy from the sea than ever before." If the 500-kilowatt demonstration works, one megawatt machines with 14-metre rotors could start generating electricity under the sea soon after 2013, Johnstone said.

Johnstone said that he had already had "substantial interest" from private companies in the power, engineering and investment sectors. His design would cost at least 50% less than first generation tidal machines, he argued, because it was relatively simple and didn't require fixed foundations. "The need to develop advanced technologies to power homes and businesses has never been more apparent," he declared: "Scotland's vast natural resources mean we are well-placed to develop and test cleaner and greener systems that can help tackle climate change, as well as increasing sustainable economic growth."

The Scottish government praised Cormat as an exciting project that helped demonstrate the nation's "world-leading strengths in harnessing the vast clean, green renewable energy potential off our shores". Scotland had a quarter of all Europe's tidal resource, said a spokesman for the energy minister, Jim Mather: "Scotland simply doesn't want or need dangerous and unnecessary new nuclear power stations, with soaring decommissioning costs and the unresolved problem of storage of radioactive waste that burdens future generations for thousands of years," the spokesman added. "Renewable technologies including wind, water, biomass, wave and tidal, backed up by clean thermal baseload, can meet our energy needs many times over."

The industry body, Scottish Renewables, pointed out that the predicable nature of tidal energy had big advantages for the electricity grid. "Tidal will become a vital component in Scotland's mix of renewable technologies," said the organisation's marine officer, Morna Cannon. "Currently the sector requires a degree of public funding to help it get on its feet. The level of the renewables obligation funding is crucial, although there are strong views that additional funding is necessary."

Portuguese wave energy project halted by "credit crunch"

The world's first commercial wave energy project is on the brink of collapse after its main backer went into administration, casting doubt over the future of a project that has already been dogged by technical problems.

The Aguçadoura project was a joint venture between Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power, Australian energy developer Babcock & Brown, Energias de Portugal (EdP) and Portuguese electrical engineering firm Efacec. But Australian-listed investment specialist Babcock and Brown, a majority investor in the £7m project, which as part of a consortium with EdP and Efacec holds a 77 per cent stake, was placed into voluntary administration last week, casting doubt over the future of the scheme.

The consortium successfully installed three of Pelamis' snake-like wave generators three miles off the north coast of Portugal last autumn, hailing the project as the first commercial wave energy project to provide power to the grid.

But in mid-November, all three generators were removed from the water because of leaks in the buoyancy tanks. Further technical problems have followed and cannot be repaired until a new backer is found to replace Babcock and Brown. The units are currently sitting idle in Leixões harbour.

Max Carcas, spokesman for Pelamis, told the Guardian newspaper that the technical problems were not serious and would be relatively easy to fix once an investor is found. "In a project of this nature, the world's first wave energy plant, it's inevitable that there will be niggles and issues to tackle," he said. "We have had nothing that isn't expected." However, he admitted the project was currently "in a state of limbo" while the company seeks to raise fresh financing.

Despite the setback, Pelamis' technology is continuing to attract interest from customers. Last month, energy firm E.ON placed an order with the company for its next generation of converters, known as the P-2. The P2, which is 180m long, 50m longer than the devices in Portugal, will be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney and will be fully operational by 2010.

E.ON told the Guardian that despite the problems with the Portugal project, the Orkney installation was likely to go ahead.

Overfishing to wipe out bluefin tuna

Overfishing will wipe out the breeding population of Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of the ocean's largest and fastest predators, in three years unless catches are dramatically reduced, according to conservation group WWF.

Communities help tackle coastal erosion

In an item with the title above the Great Yarmouth Mercury of 8th April tells how Huw Irranca-Davies, Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife and Rural Affairs, on a recent visit to the rapidly eroding Norfolk and Suffolk Coast, stated that guidelines on how the government will try to tackle to problem of coastal erosion will be drawn up using knowledge from communities along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

He stated that information gathered from visits to the coast will be used to draw up future government policies and said:

"By the summer we hope to be able to bring forward a range of options for how to deal with problems along the whole coastline. This is not a 'one size fits all' approach and we will need a lot more tools in our toolbox if we are going to work out these problems. There is tremendous passion among the people I have met. When you're faced with the possibility of losing your house or your business then that is natural. It is vitally important to come out of Whitehall. I haven't come out with solutions or to preach a message pretending that I have all the answers. I'm trying to see whether there is agreement around the challenges we face".

If put into practice this measure will be most welcome as a complete change of policy from the remote non-listening non-thinking attitude demonstrated by central government so far. And if the information and advice supplied is heeded and acted upon, so much the better.

Plankton rôle in Climate Change

In an an item entitled 'Ocean organism key to climate change' the Eastern Daily Press of 10th April '09 reports on how work on the little previously studied Micromonas Photo-Plankton by Dr. Thomas Mock of the University of East Anglia has shown that it appears to have an important role in moderating the world's oceans and could prove to be an important indicator of climate change.

The full article can be read in this weeks 'Science' journal, or the press report by Tara Greaves here.

A Campaigning Victory For Public Pressure

This time last year (April 2008) English Nature (now renamed Natural England) issued a study report which was supposed to be confidential and for Defra and the Environment Agency's eyes only.
The report contained a recommendation to allow a vast coastal area of Norfolk (25 square miles) from Eccles-on-sea to Winterton-on-sea and as far inland as Stalham to be flooded by the sea.
Fortunately this report was leaked to the local press who published its contents — there was a public out-cry with severe opposition to this recommendation, not only by local people but by many other UK residents who had fond memories of Norfolk and the Norfolk Broads and wanted to preserve this unique holiday location.

Public meetings were organised and local groups campaigning for coastal defences came together with parish council partnership groups to campaign and put pressure on the then Minister for the Environment, Phil Woolas MP, to get Natural England to remove this recommendation from their report.

My (MARINET) campaign and correspondence with Phil Woolas (previous) Minister of the Environment, about this 'managed retreat' in Norfolk can be viewed on Marinet website at: www.marinet.org.uk/coastaldefences/philwoolas.html

In his letter to me dated 23rd April 2008 Phil Woolas did say that the preferred option for this area was to maintain sea defences for the Broads for the next 50 years and he also said in his letter to me dated 27th April 2008 (in reply to my suggestion) that "It would not be appropriate for me to instruct Natural England to remove the assessment of the impact of flooding from this report" — but!

Because of the combined efforts of local groups and the pressure of local support, both of these campaigned requirements are now in place:

This is a worthy victory for people power shows that local campaigning can change government department decisions which some times seem cast in stone.

Map showing the 25 square mile area of Norfolk (outlined in red) recommended by English Nature (now Natural England), to be flooded by the sea in their original report.

PNSD: Denotes location of proposed New Sea Defences at Stalham and Potter Heigham to protect the A149 main road

Offshore Aggregate Dredging and Coastal Erosion

Yet a further paper has come to light on coastal erosion brought about by Offshore Aggregate Dredging in a paper entitled:

EFFECTS OF MARINE SAND EXPLOITATION ON COASTAL EROSION AND DEVELOPMENT OF RATIONAL SAND PRODUCTION CRITERIA written by Emre N. Otay, Paul A. Work and Osman S. Börekçi

It tells how such mining yields an inexpensive source of sand for construction or industrial uses. how it may modify nearshore wave conditions, create erosion and deposition rates, impact the sedimental drift and alter benthic habitats and nearshore circulation.

The goals of the project described in the proposal are to quantify the influences of sand mining on nearshore waves and currents, assess the magnitude of any mining-related erosion, and establish guidelines for acceptable mining rates and locations. The conclusions are based on numerical model results, but with validation of some aspects of the modelling via field data, and how although the findings are site specific, the methodology could be applied at any coastal site that features primarily non-cohesive sediments.

It shows how regardless of the final destination of marine sand, topographic changes caused by underwater dredge holes have immediate effects on nearshore waves and currents and that these hydrodynamic changes can rapidly lead to local perturbations in the ambient littoral transport patterns and eventually changes in the shoreline morphology. It is a very lengthy and detailed paper, the totality of which can be read by going to: www.ce.boun.edu.tr/otay/Kilyos/pdf/MarineSand.pdf

MARINET's response to MFA proposed amendments

The Marine and Fisheries Agency's (MFA) Sustainable Marine Resources and Climate Impacts Team put out a consultation on the Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007 appertaining to a proposed amendment that would enable and permit the re-use of harbour dredgings for beach recharge and the like.
Here is MARINET's response to that consultation.

Subject: Consultation response on an amendment to the Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007

Thank you for the opportunity to consult and provide the responses of the combined MARINET and North Sea Action Groups to you on the matter of amendment to the Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007. We are pleased to convey our considerations.

Prologue

Our mutual organisations have long been concerned on the impact(s) brought about by Harbour Dredging and the fact that no Environmental Impact Assessment have hitherto been demanded for such operations. That there are such environmental (and social) impacts are indisputable, as severe erosion has come about to local beaches due to draw down following deep dredging for deeper draft shipping navigation. e.g. Felixstowe (see 'Seeing is believing - the erosion at Felixstowe' www.marinet.org.uk/archive/archivelatestnews2007.html#sib and 'Huts tower over Felixstowe's beach' www.marinet.org.uk/archive/archivelatestnews2007.html#hto and others in the Latest News archive pages at www.marinet.org.uk/archive.html).

Yet the re-use of such dredged aggregate would, on the proviso that it is safe and free from toxic content such as Tri-Butyl Tin (TBT) and/or similar frayed hull coatings, appear eminently sensible, as this in itself would provide a viable alternative to that also causing beach draw down (and damage to the seabed and its ecosystem) e.g. the dredging for aggregate for construction purposes and for beach recharge taken from offshore.

MARINET and NSAG thus feel that the redeployment of the dredging should be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) including analyses of the dredged material, and that if the use of this is benign as beach recharge and/or for its employment in concrete etc. in the built environment, there is no good reason as to why such material should not be used as a recycled component. But such deployment must be subject to suitable findings on its content by an independent authority.

We are also very concerned that it appears that self-regulation is in vogue. It would obviously be advantageous in terms of cost and simplicity for any port operator to claim suitability as outlined above. It is thus felt necessary that a truly independent assessor must be instituted to evaluate each and every case of such dredging operation and the use of the proceeds, and to report to the MFA their findings and level of suitability before permission was provided.

Further, in that erosion resulting from such dredging could impact holiday beaches, the stability of the built environment, the coastal holiday trade and the tourist and holiday income of the area adjacent, an independent sourced EIA should also be sought for expert report consideration on the high probability, and that reparation, reimbursement and compensation be possible should such damage arise.

Subject to meeting the above considerations, we do not oppose the measures contemplated, but I would point out that under your listing 'Other Environmental Issues' no mention is made of the possible toxicological hazard nor of the likely resultant erosion. These elements vitally require inclusion.

I hope that you will find that the above comments adequately reply to the specific ten questions you questions levelled.

Please do not hesitate but to come back to you should any points made require clarification or further description.

Norwegian CO₂ sequestration is "working"

New seismic data from the Utsira formation in the North Sea indicate that the carbon dioxide being pumped into it is not leaking out, but is spreading through the structure as expected.

Thirteen years have passed since StatoilHydro and the Sleipner gas field partners Exxon Mobil and Total decided to capture carbon dioxide and store it beneath the seabed. The reason for the decision was the carbon dioxide emission fee introduced by Norwegian authorities in 1993, which made it more profitable to capture and store the carbon dioxide than to pay the emission fee.

StatoilHydro extracts 2,600 tonnes of the greenhouse gas from Sleipner West production for storage 1,000 metres beneath the seabed, rather than releasing it to the air. More than 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide have been injected into the Utsira sandstone formation since the autumn of 1996.

Monitoring

StatoilHydro conducts extensive monitoring and control of the carbon dioxide in the sub-surface store, and collects four-dimensional seismic data every other year. Intended to identify the way the gas is behaving in the formation, this information from the 2008 survey has now been analysed. The seven geophysical measurements conducted to date show a stable trend, with the carbon dioxide spreading upwards from the injection site and slowly through the rock. It is maintaining the same dispersion speed as in 2006, and the monitoring has established that the gas remains in the formation with no leakage to the surface. The injected carbon dioxide currently covers about three square kilometres of the roughly 26,000 square kilometres available in Utsira.

"In addition to seismic surveys, we monitor wellhead pressure," explains Edvin B Ytredal, vice president of operations for the Sleipner area. "These measurements show stable results, which again demonstrate that the reservoir is well suited for storage."

Researchers from StatoilHydro and its partners — Sintef, the British Geological Survey and the Dutch Institute of Applied Geoscience — have created mathematical simulation models. These are supplemented with forecasts for long-term storage of the greenhouse gas, which are based on experience and knowledge of seismic surveys and geophysical reservoir monitoring.

"Twelve years of data and seven surveys confirm the indications from the models and forecasts," says Eli Aamot, head of the new energy and ideas research programme in StatoilHydro. "They show that long-term carbon storage in sub-surface geological formations represents a secure approach."

Important

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) could provide one of several important measures for reaching the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The significance of such action is indicated by forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that world energy demand will grow by 50% up to 2030 and be 80% met from fossil sources. StatoilHydro is working purposefully to reduce carbon emissions from its operations, and CCS plays a significant role in these efforts.

The European Union aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 20% up to 2020, and reached agreement in December on a climate and energy package. This includes a framework for CCS, with a directive on the way EU members and Norway will regulate licences to ensure reliable carbon storage.

"The fact that we can produce oil and gas which has been held for millions of years provides a good illustration of the bedrock's ability to provide long-term storage," says Ms Aamot. "Our CCS programme in the Sleipner area has provided a groundbreaking demonstration that the sub-surface can also contain this gas for a long time."

Images of the dispersal of stored carbon dioxide through the Utsira formation since injection began more than 12 years ago. The colour scale shows seismic amplitudes, which correspond approximately to vertically summed thicknesses of carbon dioxide in the sandstone.

European Commission takes legal Action over UK UWWD failure

The EC is proceeding with legal action action against the UK for its failure to meet the demands of the Urban Waste Water Directive 91/271/EEC. The Press Release referring appears below.

United Kingdom: Commission to continue legal action for waste water pollution

The European Commission has decided to pursue legal action against the United Kingdom over a breach of EU rules for the collection and treatment of urban waste water. The UK has received a final warning before possible Court action for a case which concerns insufficient collection and treatment facilities for four urban centres (London, Torbay, Whitburn and Kilbarchan). This results in untreated urban waste water being discharged directly into rivers or sea, causing pollution of the environment and health hazards.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "To ensure that the health of citizens and the environment in the United Kingdom is protected, it is key that adequate collection and treatment facilities for sewage are put in place."

The Commission's action addresses inadequate collecting and treatment facilities for urban waste water in four agglomerations: London, Torbay and Whitburn in England; and Kilbarchan in Scotland. In each case, where the capacity of the existing facilities to deal with flows of urban waste water is exceeded, overflow systems are used, resulting in substantial amounts of untreated waste water being discharged into the receiving waters (rivers or the sea) on a regular basis. The frequency of these overflows can in certain cases exceed 80 times per year, causing millions of cubic meters of untreated waste water to be released. As a result, large scale fish kills may occur and the use of waters for recreational purposes, such as bathing or water sports, is prevented.

The Commission considers that this is in violation of the EU's Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.This Directive aims at curbing pollution caused by urban waste water (sewage). Discharges of urban waste water causes pollution and threatens the survival of fish. By introducing potentially harmful bacteria and viruses, the discharges also pose human health risks.

The UK received first written warnings for these violations in April 2003 (with respect to Torbay, Whitburn and Kilbarchan) and March 2005 (with respect to London). The UK authorities responded with information on proposed actions to increase the capacity of the collection and treatment facilities. However the problems regarding discharges remain and as a result a second written warning will now be sent.

Legal Process

Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.

If the Commission considers that there may be an infringement of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a "Letter of Formal Notice" (first written warning) to the Member State concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.

In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the Member State concerned, the Commission may decide to address a "Reasoned Opinion" (final written warning) to the Member State. This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law, and calls upon the Member State to comply within a specified period, usually two months.

If the Member State fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the Court of Justice. Where the Court of Justice finds that the Treaty has been infringed, the offending Member State is required to take the measures necessary to conform.

Article 228 of the Treaty gives the Commission power to act against a Member State that does not comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice. The article also allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on the Member State concerned.

Robo-fish — with chips!

A Reuters report by Ben Hirschler, edited by Tim Pearce, tells how researchers at Essex University have combined with engineering group BMT have developed a Robot Fish with independent navigation and chemical sensors that will detect potentially hazardous pollutants, such as leaks from vessels or underwater pipelines to detect river, lake or marine pollution. The first trial will commence off the northern Spanish port of Gijon.

The 1.5 metre long carp like robots, costing £20,000 each, mimic the movement of real fish and are equipped with chemical sensors They will transmit the information back to shore using Wi-Fi technology. Unlike earlier robotic fish, which needed remote controls, they will be able to navigate independently without any human interaction.

CLBA want Managed Retreat reviewed

In the light of the latest damning predictions from the Government's chief scientific adviser, when Chief Scientist Prof John Beddington told the Sustainable Development Commission conference in London that the world was heading for a "perfect storm" of soaring demand for food, water and energy by 2030, the regional head of the Country Land & Business Association warned that flood defence policy and water resource management need to be re-assessed.

Prof. Beddington had pointed out that the problems of a growing global population coming out of poverty would be exacerbated by climate change, resulting in international food and water shortages in 20 years' time — and increased food and energy prices in the UK.

Nicola Currie, eastern region director of the CLA said "Surely protection of valuable, productive acres must become part of the equation. Can we really afford to lose land which was reclaimed from the sea in a bid to become self-sufficient in food after the last world war? Huge public investment went into that reclamation, but the nation appears content to discard all that was achieved in the past. Measures taken now to maintain defences — a stitch in time — will pay off in the future when we are going to need that land."

The full report with more detail is to be found in the Eastern Daily Press of 24th March '09 under 'Rural businesses challenge flood policy'.

The Parliamentary Opposition Steps In

Following much canvassing by MARINET, we are now gathering more support from within the Conservative Party and the cross party Parliamentary group looking at coastal erosion, which in turn will increase pressure on the existing Parliamentary MP's to do more. The 'Eastern Daily Press' of 24th March '09 reported the following:

Coastal erosion campaign stepped up

Brandon Lewis, the Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Yarmouth, has recruited MP John Gummer in the battle to highlight the coastal erosion problems facing Scratby, Hemsby and Winterton. As a member of the cross party Parliamentary group looking at coastal erosion, Mr Gummer was able to gain valuable information on the issue and how it affects Yarmouth during a visit to the area.

Mr Lewis was joined by coastal erosion campaigners from the villages in making the case to Mr Gummer for investment to hold the line on this part of the coast. He said: "Hemsby alone puts £80m to £100m into the local economy. When you take that and the house and other business values that could be lost along this stretch of land you can easily see a cost of up to £200m for not holding the line here. It would only cost around £2.5m to finish the line of the rock protection that currently ends at Scratby and compared to the loss of property and business here that seems a very good investment."

A12 upgrade demand over Sizewell C

This article by Craig Robinson appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times on Monday 9th March 2009 revealing requirements before third nuclear power station is placed on the Suffolk coast. MARINET asserts that quite a few considerations need to be demanded before those stated by the MP, such as policies directed at safeguarding the plant from the threats of erosion and sea rise.

The third nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast must only get the go-ahead if the A12 is upgraded and affordable housing is provided, an MP warned last night.

EDF Energy has now formally nominated its land next to the existing Sizewell B for a new nuclear plant, where it wants to build two reactors - subject to planning consent and investment. But Suffolk Coastal MP John Gummer told the EADT that a number of key issues which must tackled if Sizewell C and D are to get his blessing. This includes an A12 bypass for the villages of Stratford St Andrew, Farnham, Marlesford and Little Glemham.
He also said any temporary accommodation created for workers should be converted into permanent affordable housing for local residents, and the materials used for the new power station should be brought in by sea to minimise the impact on the environment.

Last week EDF Energy — which now incorporates British Energy — put forward its land at Sizewell for the Government's Strategic Site Assessment process, which identifies suitable locations for new nuclear build. Mr Gummer, Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal, said the plans had his full backing — so long as the four points were addressed. He said: "First of all I would want to see an upgrade of the A12 — otherwise the impact on the people living in the area will be far too great. "We need to have a bypass — the route is fixed and there's been a public inquiry — it would be very easy to put it in operation. It's not even terribly expensive — but would relieve the pressure on the four villages. "Secondly, they are going to have to bring in a lot of workers. On the last occasion they were housed in temporary accommodation and it was pulled down. But I would like to see a legacy so that what we then have is some additional low cost housing that's desperately needed for the area."

Mr Gummer said he would also like to see as many of the construction materials as possible brought in by sea. "This would be considerably more favourable than by road and means there would be far less impact in terms of noise and the environment," he said. "A lot of my constituents are retired and the last thing they want is a large number of lorries driving past their homes. Lastly there also has to be a much better way of keeping in touch with the parish councils so that as the construction continues they feel that they are entirely informed. I think the community is prepared to have another nuclear power station but if it's going to be a large development on an important stretch of our coast people want to feel they have a part to play."

A spokesman for EDF Energy said it was too early to comment on how specific proposals might be addressed but assured that consultations and feasibility studies were being carried out to understand the needs of the community. "We welcome the fact that there is significant support for new build in the local community as well as recognition of the economic and employment benefits our plans could bring to the area," he said. "We are fully committed to consulting with the community throughout the development of our plans."

The nuclear industry has until March 31 to nominate sites for the first wave of new nuclear power stations in the UK - after which a list will be published and members of the public will have a chance to express their views.

But Charles Barnett, chairman of the Shutdown Sizewell Campaign, said there was no need for new nuclear reactors. "What we should be doing is promoting energy efficiency and conservation and focusing on renewables such as wind, solar and tidal," he said. "All these other issues are peripheral — do we really want to saddle our decedents with the burden of dealing with nuclear waste?"

Threats to East Anglia

This item by Anthony Carroll entitled 'New warning on sea levels' appeared in the Eastern Daily Press of 9th March '09

The MP for north Norfolk has warned more should be done to prevent coastal communities being submerged by the North Sea. Norman Lamb's call to action comes as scientists prepare to meet in Denmark to announce that vast swathes of the coast and Broadland could be swamped by rising sea levels by 2100.

The global climate conference in Copenhagen this week will hear that the Broads is on an at risk list, which also includes The Thames, Hull, Holland, Florida and Bangladesh, due to melting ice caps leading to sea levels rising by 60cm by 2100.

Mr Lamb says more should be done to stop rising sea levels by slowing down the melting of ice caps which are disappearing due to global warming caused by carbon emissions. He said the government had failed in its pledge to develop eco-friendly industry and technology to mitigate the effects of climate change and that funding should be set aside to compensate people who lose their businesses and homes due to flooding.

Mr Lamb said: "There are effective things that should be happening that can make a difference. It is frustrating that the government is failing to act."

Losing the best of Norfolk

Mutually damaged by the threats of Shoreline Management Plans, 'Managed Retreat', Offshore Dredging and Rising Sea level, Norfolk is by far the area to lose even more in the coming years. This article entitled ''Norfolk Broads likely to be gone by 2100' written by Kate Scotter appeared in the Eastern Evening News of 9th March '09.

Large areas of the Norfolk Broads are likely to disappear by 2100, according to scientists. The stark warning will be issued at an international climate change conference this week when experts will outline their latest findings on rising sea levels and global warming. Over the three-day event in Copenhagen, which starts tomorrow, scientists will reveal how they have now realised that sea levels pose a far bigger eco threat than previously though and will sound an alarm over new floodings — enough to swamp the Norfolk Broads.

A report two years ago concluded that sea-level rises of between 20 and 60 centimetres would occur by 2100. But now, as Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are melting faster than previously estimated, this figure is now suggested to be up to two metres.

Experts from the University of East Anglia said the rising sea levels will have a "huge impact". Dr Bruce Tofield, from the UEA's school of environmental sciences, said: "People are beginning to worry that it's going to be higher than previously thought. "I'm sure it's true it will have a huge impact on the Norfolk Broads. It won't make Norfolk uninhabitable but it will have a big impact. Few people think it will be two metres but that's the uncertainty. It's going to be equally damaging to low-lying area in Shanghai and Calcutta and will have an impact on hundreds and millions of people, not just Norfolk. And if people are being displaced, migrating away from these places, then it will have a huge impact worldwide."

Back in 2007, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented its most up-to-date report on the likely impact of global warming, predicting sea-level rises of between 20 and 60 centimetres over the next 100 years. But now, after studying satellite images and seeing land sheets breaking up faster than anticipated, scientists are suggesting sea-level rises could easily top a metre by 2100.

The result will be the appearance of the "super-surge", a climatic double whammy that will savage low-lying regions that include Britain's south-eastern coastline, in particular East Anglia and the Thames Estuary, along with cities such as London, Portsmouth and Hull, which are rated as being particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise.

The future of the Broads has been the subject of much debate in recent years, with a controversial report published by government body Natural England suggesting some sea defences should be abandoned.

Carbon emissions creating acidic oceans not seen since dinosaurs

Chemical change placing 'unprecedented' pressure on marine life and could cause widespread extinctions, warn scientists

Scientists to issue stark warning over dramatic new sea level figures

Rising sea levels pose a far bigger eco threat than previously thought. This week's climate change conference in Copenhagen will sound an alarm over new floodings — enough to swamp Bangladesh, Florida, the Norfolk Broads and the Thames estuary.

Letter from America — Dredging and Erosion — Comparisons of Mis-management

Jerry Berne of Sustainable Coastlines wrote this philosophical treatise comparing the dredging and erosion situation (mal)practised in the USA and in the UK.

Phantom oil spills may be Red Tide foam

Researchers find that red tide algae can produce proteins that harm birds in ways that are difficult to distinguish from the damage caused by oil spills.

The frequency, size and duration of Red Tides have increased substantially around the world since 2004, and researchers link the rise to climate change and the impact on surface water temperatures.

Read the full article at Ars Technica 3rd March 2009

Our mobile beaches

'Winter's toll on beach defences' is written by Chris Bishop in the Eastern Daily Press of 2nd March '09, commencing with:

"It sounds like one of those conundrums once beloved of maths teachers: If it takes all winter for the sea to wash a beach away, how long does it take three men with dump trucks and diggers to put it back again? Not as long as it normally does this year, says the Environment Agency which reckons its annual beach recycle between Heacham and Snettisham will entail moving up to 10,000 tonnes of sand and shingle."

Although this last winter's storms were not as severe as those in previous years, some 'cliffing' has taken place, leaving a 6ft sheer drop in some parts of the narrow bank which protects farmland, marsh and thousands of holiday chalets and caravans. Nigel Woonton, the agency's flood risk manager, said: "They estimate there's £37m of property and infrastructure protected by this bit of the coast.

The rest of this article can be seen by visiting here.

North Norfolk attempts moderations to make ‘Managed Retreat’ acceptable

Richard Batson writes in the 2nd March '09 Eastern Daily Press of new moves by North Norfolk planners to try to make the demands of managed retreat acceptable to losing communities by offering ‘bribes’ to equate their loss, because “Villages are not just fighting to shore up their sea defences, but also trying to stop their crumbling cliffs sterilising local life by putting a block on progress. Moves are afoot to relax planning guidelines to allow more flexibility for developments, extensions and changes of use inside ‘no go areas’ likely to be lost to erosion.”

Planning officer Rob Young said: “We need to do something to keep communities viable and sustainable, by looking at what can be done without storing up problems for the future.” whilst Cabinet Cabinet member Clive Stockton is quoted as saying that allowing some alternative uses, extensions and fixed-term commercial uses gave control over the buildings’ lifetime. And exceptions to policy could also be made to help buildings with community uses, such as a village hall, to help local life. The guidelines could not be firmed up into policy until there was more detail on a national “adaptation” scheme aimed at helping communities adjust to the changes caused by erosion.

The full story is entitled "Help for Norfolk communities blighted by erosion"

Evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group

MARINET has replied to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Coastal and Marine Inquiry into deprivation and disadvantage in coastal rural areas.

The APPG is a group of MPs and Peers, across all parties, who have a shared interest in coastal areas. They meet at least three times during the year, along with other stakeholders, to debate issues of common concern. As Parliamentarians they have a unique insight into government and an inside track on national policy. It is the only body which brings people together at a national level to consider UK policy in coastal areas. Established in 2006, the group has to date tracked the progress of the Marine Bill, and has investigated the issue of social justice in coastal flood and erosion policy.

Review of UK Marine Aggregate Extraction Activities

From The Crown Estate and BMAPA showing historic patterns of marine aggregate extraction in metric tonnes for 2000-2005, excluding beach replenishment and fill contracts.

According to moisture content and stone to sand ratio, there's usually between 1.6 and 1.9 metric tonnes weight for each cubic metre of aggregate. That related to uses a dry weight ratio of 1.72:1. Therefore, the six year total take of 121,838,089 tonnes would mean a removal of 70,836,052 cubic metres. The level given is undoubtedly that landed to destination. In practice over twice this would have been extracted as some half is rejected by washing off back to the sea so as to hold the prime coarse cohesive sand and gravel to be used for the best grade concrete.

Such a quantity is difficult to visualise, but can be estimated by theoretically placing it on top of a town or city of a known area. (Don't try this in practice unless you can chose Westminster) and calculating how high it would reach, or how many times it would fill the Albert Hall.

It is interesting to note that the findings of erosion of each area correlate quite powerfully with the levels taken, as does the lowering of the seabed when related to the cumulative active dredging areas.

Scientists repeat: "Sea levels rising faster than expected"

The U.N.'s climate change panel may be severely underestimating the sea-level rise caused by global warming, climate scientists said on Monday, calling for swift cuts in greenhouse emissions.

"The sea-level rise may well exceed one meter (3.28 feet) by 2100 if we continue on our path of increasing emissions," said Stefan Rahmstorf, professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "Even for a low emission scenario, the best estimate is about one meter."Rahmstorf spoke at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 predicted global warming would cause sea levels to rise by between 18 cm and 59 cm (7 inches and 23 inches) this century. The IPCC said at the time the estimate could not accurately take into account factors such as the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Many scientists criticized the number as too conservative.

"The ice loss in Greenland shows an acceleration during the last decade," said veteran Greenland researcher Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "The upper range of sea-level rise by 2100 might be above one meter or more on a global average, with large regional differences depending where the source of ice loss occurs," he said.

John Church, a researcher at the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research in Hobart, said rising oceans will lead to more frequent devastating floods in coastal areas. The faster humans limit carbon dioxide emissions, the greater the chance to avoid the most extreme scenarios, he said. "We could pass a threshold during the 21st century that can commit the world to meters of sea-level rise," he said. "Short-term emission goals are critical."

Early reductions of emissions are much more effective than actions later in the century, the scientists said.

"With stiff reductions in 2050 you can end the temperature curve (rise) quite quickly, but there's not much you can do to the sea-level rise anymore," Rahmstorf said. "We are setting in motion processes that will lead to sea levels rising for centuries to come."

Reports on Offshore Dredging Impacts in ‘Coastal Observatory’

'Coastal Observatory' (here) describes a number of reports under ‘General Information on Offshore Dredging’ relating to Offshore Aggregate Dredging, specifically stating “There are concerns by coastal local authorities, over shoreline erosion being caused or exacerbated by offshore aggregate dredging. Offshore dredging along the east coast could result in negative impacts on adjacent coastal areas, modifying nearshore wave conditions, affect erosion and deposition rates, and alter benthic habitats and nearshore circulation”.

Listed below are some general links to papers and websites on offshore dredging. For the links themselves please go to the URL above.

Coastal Defence and Marine Aggregate Dredging off the UK — a report by Dr Andrew Bellamy of the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) on: Coastal Defence and Marine Aggregate Dredging off the UK.

Effects of Sand Extraction on Coastal Erosion - A paper by Otay et al from Georgia Tech — College of Engineering, United States on the effects of sand extraction on coastal erosion. Otay, E.N., Work, P.A. & Börekçi, O.S. Effects of marine sand exploitation on coastal erosion and development of rational sand production criteria.

Effects of the disposal of marine dredged spoil at Flamborough — A report on the effects of the disposal of marine dredged spoil around Flamborough Head. An appropriate assessment of existing consents for the sea disposal of dredged material, as required under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc) Regulations, 1994. CEFAS 2000. The impact of disposal of marine dredged material on the Flamborough Head Candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC).

Offshore Dredging and Integrated Coastal Zone Management — The theme of coastal erosion, the effects of offshore dredging and shoreline management is addressed in the newly published East Riding Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan under the section 'Managing the Coast'. East Riding of Yorkshire Council (2002). Link to the ICZM plan.

For further details on the environmental and economic effects of dredging and aggregate extraction, please refer to the appropriate sections within Business & Employment Environment.

Nudists no longer ‘beached’!

Further to our item ‘Nudists feel the Chill’ at www.marinet.org.uk/latestnews.html#nftp telling of the loss of the natural bathers designated spot at Corton due to massive beach erosion, readers will be pleased to learn the evolved bare facts, in that they can now swim at the newly opened (and heated!) High Street pool in Newmarket.

Britain's Best Beach

‘Coast Magazine’' readers have voted Holkham in North Norfolk as being Britain’s best beach by a considerable margin this year.

Indeed, Holkham is quite delightful and totally unspoiled, with a huge open sky and sandy beach, lots of wildlife, colourful beach huts with a backing of creeks and Mediterranean pine woods, a background used frequently by film crews such as the Hollywood movie setting with Gwyneth Paltrow’s memorable final scene from ‘Shakespeare in Love’ in 1998.

What is more It has the least polluted bathing water in the UK, often showing zero coliform levels in samples taken by MARINET’s Pat Gowen.

The only danger is that the tide goes out well over a mile, and when it comes in at a fast rate of knots that non-aware visitors cannot outrun, so often have to get rescued from sandbanks a considerable distance from the shoreline.

Coming Sand and Gravel Conferences

Sand and Gravel News announced on February 9/10th that two conferences relating to sediment management and dredging are about to happen. The 6th International SedNet conference takes place 6-8th October 2009, in Hamburg, Germany. This will address the issue of sediment management in river basin management plans, and the role of sediments in coastal management. The conference is hosted and co-organised by Hamburg Port Authority. They welcome abstracts for oral and poster presentations for the conference, with those with a special focus on case studies of North Sea projects particularly welcome. They can be submitted your abstract by email to the SedNet Secretariat marjan.euser@tno.nl. Full details can be seen by visiting www.sandandgravel.com/news/article.asp?v1=1163

Another is a meeting being organised by CIRIA and hosted by Arenia on 7/8th May 2009 in Rome by the EMSAGG, the European Marine Sand and Gravel Group. This is to allow the delegates to gain an understanding of the latest environmental, technical, regulatory, economic and future issues surrounding marine sand and gravel exploration, exploitation and extraction, marine sediments, sustainable beach nourishment and sea defences, and to share experiences and thoughts with international peers.

Whilst MARINET would delight in effecting its prescience at both of these events, our funds would not be able to provide even a tiny fraction of the costs involved.

MARINET Backing from Dr.Ian Gibson MP

On Friday 13th February Dr. Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich North, produced a Press Release backing MARINET's efforts on maintaining the coastline. MARINET could do with some more like this from other local and general MPs. Constituents are asked to lobby their MPs for similar efforts. Messages to them can be sent using ‘Write to Them’ at www.writetothem.com

NORFOLK MP BACKS CAMPAIGN TO SAVE EAST ANGLIA COASTLINE

MP Ian Gibson has urged the Government to uphold its commitment to protect the Norfolk coastline until 2050 after the Environment Agency took the controversial decision last month to stop funding for flood defences around the Suffolk coast.

Flood walls protect thousands of acres of land, twenty homes and the main A road along Suffolk's coastline but the Environment Agency says it cannot afford the £35m needed to maintain their upkeep. This new approach to coastal erosion was given the go ahead at a meeting of the Eastern Regional Flood Defence Committee on Friday 16th January and has dealt a severe blow to the East Coast branch of MARINET, the Marine Network of local Friends of the Earth groups, who campaigned against the move.

Although the decision will only affect the Suffolk coastline Dr Gibson is worried that this is a step in the wrong direction in the fight to stop erosion along the East coast. He said: “The Environment Agency has done a complete about turn on coastal policy in just a matter of weeks. Only in December the Environment Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies, reiterated to me the Government’s commitment to ‘keep the sea at bay along the coastline, until at least 2050’. What makes the Suffolk coastline any less of a priority than Norfolk’s? It seems that it is only a matter of time before the Government decides it has run out of funding for Norfolk’s flood defences as well.”

Dr Gibson is also working alongside MARINET to monitor developments in the Anglian Offshore Dredging Association (AODA) investigation into the impact of offshore aggregate dredging on coastal erosion. There are concerns that the removal of sand and gravel has accelerated coastal land loss; MARINET are eager to see an outcome to the AODA investigation that will do away with this practice along the Suffolk and Norfolk coastline.

MMO to be Located in Tyneside

The new Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to be created as a result of the Marine Bill, which is currently before Parliament, will have its headquarters located in Tyneside. The MMO will be responsible for the new marine planning system and will operate the licensing regime for a wide range of marine industries.

Marine and Fisheries Minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced that the area was ideally placed to host the new Marine Management Organisation. He said that it had the right mix of environmental, business and adademic marine interests.

Mr Irranca-Davies said: “Tyneside was chosen for several reasons, not least because of its broad range and good balance of marine interests. It has a working port, a busy local fishing industry, and businesses including offshore renewable energy development, all of which fit well with the MMO’s role.”

Latest Happisburgh erosion

Although not the UK's fastest disappearing coastline, the delightful but slowly disappearing village of Happisburgh (pronounced 'Haze-borough') has achieved excellent publicity resulting in world-wide awareness, due to the continuing stalwart efforts of Malcolm Kerby, coordinator of the Happisburgh Coastal Concern Action Group, website www.happisburgh.org.uk.
Here is the latest situation described by Victoria Leggett in the Eastern Daily Press of 6th February '09.

New pictures highlight coastal erosion

aerial photograph showing receding cliffs threatening nearby houses

Houses on the edge in Happisburgh

Teetering on the edge, these precariously-placed houses on the cliff top at Happisburgh have become some of the most recognisable symbols of coastal erosion in the UK. These new aerial photographs of the village's coastline, taken on Wednesday, highlight the latest changes taking place at one of Norfolk's most vulnerable spots.

While the carefully balanced homes and dilapidated remnants of the revetments and groynes — the area's original sea defences built in 1959 — are familiar sights, a number of new landmarks illustrate the ongoing battle with the sea. To the south at Cart Gap, the new life-boat ramp can be seen just two weeks off completion. In 2003 the Happisburgh crew was forced to move along the coast after the lifeboat ramp running from the clifftop to the beach fell victim to erosion. The new ramp is being built to accommodate a new lifeboat which will soon come to Cart Gap. As well as the existing D class boat, the crew will operate an Atlantic 75, which has a greater range than the current boat and is better suited to operations in rough weather.

Between Happisburgh and Cart Gap, at Low Light, which is considered a potential 'back door to the Broads' because of its low height above sea level, 4,000 tonnes of rock has been recently placed to help temper the force of the tide.

aerial photograph showing rock emplacements and new ramp

The new lifeboat ramp at Cart Gap a mile and a bit to the south east of Happisburgh. Mike Page

The boulders were donated to North Norfolk District Council by the Environment Agency as leftovers from a major shoreline scheme nearby at Sea Palling and Eccles. Brian Farrow, from the council, said while some of the rock would stay where it was, a portion would be moved towards the centre of the village.

Malcolm Kerby, from the Coastal Concern Action Group (CCAG), hoped a much closer-to-earth look at this ever-decreasing village would stick in the minds of members of the Royal Commission who visited yesterday. About 20 of the government investigators were taken for a walk along the coast before listening to a talk by Mr Kerby, who campaigns for compensation for villagers losing their homes to the sea.

Mr Kerby said he did not expect the visit to prompt any instant action from the government but hoped it would add further pressure. “The meeting was part of the building blocks of the overall case we are presenting,” he said. The action group co-ordinator hoped to emphasis the human consequences of coastal erosion and help the group to understand what is happening in north Norfolk. He said: “I think that's the biggest obstacle. It's very easy for the government and government experts to say we can't afford to do this, but they have to understand what those decisions mean.”

Google Ocean

Google has just added a new dimension to 'Google Earth' by allowing us to virtually explore the other and even more important two-thirds of earth with 'Google Ocean', all without even getting your feet wet. Google said "Global Ocean is a powerful way to raise awareness about environmental issues, such as global warming."

Using photographs and video of marine life from the National Geographic Society and by employing sonar data from the US Navy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and others to create a visual representation of the bathymetric map of the landscape hidden beneath the sea, Google Ocean allows internet surfers to dive under waves and explore the sea, track labelled animals, see the surface and bottom landscape, glaciers, contours, canyons and trenches, shipwrecks, global marine chlorophyll levels and far more to generally explore the Maritime ecosystem. And it's all for free!

If you do not have Google Earth already aboard, then go to http://earth.google.co.uk to click on 'Download Google Earth 5.0' and follow through. If you are already running Google Earth, perhaps V3.3, then get the new V5.0 by going to HELP and then clicking UPDATE (three up on the listing provided).

If you are employing some filters, anti-virus, anti trojan and anti-intrusion programs and other forms of malware exclusion on your computer you may find impediments to the download, but which can be easily overcome by lowering your protection level or temporarily switching them off. (Remember to replace them afterwards). After you have it up and running try initially going to 'Explore the Ocean' and follow on from there.

Emissions from Shipping

Terry Trelawny-Gower has worries of the high emissions produced from shipping, and contributes his thoughts and concerns as follows.

Particulates Really Matter

Significant Technological Impacts on the Marine Industry with regard to the reduction of S0_x and N0_x emissions from marine propulsion units.

There have been many gadgets and devices developed in the last decade to the significant benefit of mariners. Advances in navigation, GPS, radar and communications - to name but a few. However, in the main, such devices tend to benefit individuals in specific situations: be it a major safety issue or a cold beer from a solar powered fridge.

I am of the opinion that a combination of the acceptance that a problem exists and the efforts to deal with the issue through international discussion, technological research and advancement, is probably one of the most significant developments in the marine world - the effects of which will impact upon millions of people. Efforts to reduce the volume emissions of Sulphur Oxides (SO_x) and Nitrogen Oxides (NO_x) produced by emissions from ship's propulsion units, are of paramount significance in the marine world. Equally important to small motor boat owners and Ultra Large Crude Carrier (ULCC) operators.

Over a decade ago, concerned that there was no readily available statistical information on the subject of atmospheric pollution directly attributed to emissions from marine engines, I wrote the Department of the Environment asking for the results of any research that might have been carried out. It was quite obvious that very high volumes of both SO_x and NO_x were being produced on a daily basis, by hundreds of ships. My main area of interest focused on vessels transiting the English Channel and the North Sea to UK and European ports.

The response to my letter was quite disturbing. Written no doubt by a faceless bureaucrat in London, it stated: "No data is available and no research is or will be carried out in the foreseeable future, because ships are always a long way away". In one sentence, millions of cubic metres of significant atmospheric pollution were dismissed as irrelevant.

I requested clarification of the statement, and also pointed out, that vessels transiting to Northern European ports, including cross channel ferries, rig supply vessels etc., were not "far away" — indeed, they were very close.

The letter was ignored, and consequently, I contacted my MP asking if he could make sense of the DoE response. Unfortunately, he was unable to elicit any useful information from them, other than they did not see any reason to pursue the subject. So there the matter lay for some time, until the subject of 'global warming' (now 'climate change'), prompted the Government into acceptance that a major problem does exist, and the myth of ships being too far from land to make any significant contribution to atmospheric pollution, and alleged Climate Change, was finally dispelled.

However, a decade on, and there is a realisation that emissions from ships engines are a major identifiable contributor to atmospheric pollution, climate change, and equally important, that of the degradation of quality of life for millions of human beings.

Much legislation is in place designed to ameliorate the problem; however, recent reports suggest that the impact on human health is far greater than initially anticipated. Also, the quality of air in coastal regions continues to degrade at a very significant rate. Emissions from ships have been identified as combining with industrial pollution at the ocean/land interface, resulting in high levels of Nitryl Chloride (NO₂Cl), which in turn reacts with Chlorine to reduce Ozone (O₃).

In the UK, MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) has introduced legislation designed to reduce the volume of SO_x and NO_x emissions from ships. However this applies more specifically to new builds, and is not necessarily retroactive in dealing with older vessels. The installation of exhaust gas scrubbers has not been made mandatory, although the quality of fuel oil is increasingly monitored, and subject to on-board testing by port state surveyors. Also, there is now a process of the issue of International Air Pollution Certificates (IAPC). However, how successful these will be in combating air pollution is probably debatable. There are cases where certain countries in West Africa have (allegedly), added liquid toxic waste to bunker fuel (the waste probably originated in Europe, so a case of return to sender), and emissions from vessels using this fuel combined with SO_x and NO_x are extremely dangerous to human health, as they include dioxins.

Emissions from ships engaged in European trade were estimated in 2000, to have been 2.6 million tonnes of Sulphur Dioxide and 3.6 million tonnes of Nitrogen Oxides. Whilst land-based sources of these pollutants are decreasing, those from ships show a significant increase. In fact, by 2010, emissions from international shipping in the North Sea and English Channel are expected to reach high levels of atmospheric pollution, with SO_x at 3.3 million tonnes predicted, and NO_x at 4.6 million tonnes. Disturbingly, by 2020, the emissions from shipping using European routes will have surpassed the total from all land-based sources in the 25 member states. The UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has estimated that emissions from ships may account for 1.8% of the global warming process.

SO_x and NO_x convert into sulphate and nitrate particles within the 2.5 to 10 micron band particulate matter — PM 2.5 & 10.0 — and are essentially distributed in the air. Long-term research and analysis of findings has confirmed that up to 45% of Europe's urban population are exposed to PM10.0 and PM2.5 micron fine particulate levels, which is estimated to cause approximately 100,000 deaths per year in Europe due to cardio-vascular and cardio-pulmonary diseases. Ship emissions are estimated to contribute between 20% & 30% of the air concentrations of secondary inorganic particles in most European coastal areas. Nitrogen oxides also contribute to the formation of ground level Ozone, which damages vegetation, as well as human health. Nitrogen oxides significantly contribute to eutrophication, which affects biodiversity in coastal waters and adjoining land. Of course, the effects of Nitrogen oxides, Sulphur oxides and Ozone can also be seen in the deterioration of buildings in urban areas.

What has been achieved so far toward reducing emissions? In truth, very little; IMO has been negotiating with concerned parties for years, and the result was an air pollution annex to the MARPOL 73/78 Convention. Unfortunately, this agreement was so weak it became ineffective, and by 2004, only 7 states, including the UK, had ratified the agreement. In 2007, there were further amendments to the MARPOL Annex VI, which ratified the proposal to establish Specific Emission Control Areas (SECAs), and a number of other actions that will be taken to improve the situation. By 2025 at the earliest, the positive effects of this legislation may become apparent.

The simplest and least expensive way of reducing SO_x emissions is to use low-Sulphur content fuels, which requires no engine modification, and long-term use has the advantage of resulting in less wear on machinery and reduction in the use of lubricating oil. However, with crude oil prices increasing dramatically (2008), attempts to persuade ship operators to use higher price, low-Sulphur fuels, may well not succeed for obvious economic reasons. In fact, high fuel prices may well result in atmospheric pollution legislation being sidelined.

The introduction of technology to deal with SO_x and NO_x has been developed mainly by engine manufacturers (influenced by legislation that would effectively reduce sales?), and at the moment, there are four main options available:

In summary, the problem has been identified, and technology has, and will continue, to be developed to effectively reduce polluting emissions. However, it will require more than a few European nations accepting anti-atmospheric pollution legislation and establishing SECAs to have a significant impact on the problem. As mentioned earlier, the effects of price increases of crude oil on emission reduction policies will need to be addressed.

In October 2008, concerns with regard to the Marpol emission rules were raised by Hanns Conzen, managing director of TT-Line, one of Germany's leading ro-ro operators. He said; "It is being proposed that the sulphur content in marine fuels will have to be reduced from 1% to 0.1%, but only in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. This will result in a further increase in already high bunker costs by 80%-100%". Mr Conzen believes that a consequence of the new rules will be a significant amount of traffic moving from sea to road, in these areas — the exact opposite of European Union policy.

By contrast, the maximum sulphur content for global shipping , including European sectors such as the Irish Sea and Mediterranean will remain for some time beyond 2015, at 3.5% — 35 times higher than the North Sea and Baltic.

Clownfish lost at sea due to rising CO₂ levels

Tests on clownfish larvae showed they became disoriented and were unable to find a suitable place to live if they were raised in seawater that had absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They also are unable to distinguish between their own parents and other fish, and they become attracted to substances they previously avoided.

Global warming could lead to ocean dead zones

Even if humans can rein in the atmosphere's carbon dioxide content by the end of this century, large zones in the oceans could remain depleted of oxygen for hundreds or even thousands of years, researchers have revealed.

The lower oxygen content in the seas, a consequence of global warming, could threaten much of the world's marine life by the 22nd century, including the fish, shellfish, and other creatures on which humans depend for food.

Scientists have known for centuries that warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen. As temperatures rise, oxygen bubbles into the atmosphere. Too little dissolved oxygen and marine life begins to suffocate. Ever since global warming became a concern, researchers have been attempting to monitor the oxygen content of the seas.

One such study last year reported startling expansions of oceanic low-oxygen zones over the past half-century, though part of that development is due to agricultural pollution from streams and rivers. Other research has revealed that once deoxygenation starts, it triggers a feedback loop, wherein a cascade of physical and chemical reactions can greatly prolong its effects.

To determine how long ocean oxygen levels might remain low, Danish researchers constructed a computer model to track the phenomenon over the next 100,000 years. Under Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios predicting atmospheric temperature increases of up to 4°C by the end of this century, the resulting ocean temperature increases would expand existing low-oxygen zones, the team reports online this week in Nature Geoscience. That would create so-called dead zones where, for 2 millennia or even longer, few fish and shellfish could survive.

These zones would cover tens of thousands of square kilometres in the northern Indian Ocean and in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the tropical coasts of North, Central, and South America. "We were surprised to find how ocean warming and associated oxygen depletion increased more than global warming itself," says lead author and oceanographer Gary Shaffer of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen.

The bad news doesn't end there. Shaffer says that the model does not take into account the effect of methane released by ocean sediments as the water warms. Methane reacts with oxygen and removes it from water. So it's possible, he says, that the "oxygen depletion would be much worse."

Oceanographer Gregory Johnson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Washington, says the model takes the complex interactions of the ocean and other climate systems and "collapses them into a simple framework." That framework, he says, will help researchers study the effects of climate over very long periods of time.

World's toughest wind turbines set to make début off Germany's coast

After a decade in development, the toughest wind turbines ever built are ready to make their début.

The machines are the world's first designed specifically for the harsh and remote conditions of the sea and have been developed in Germany, by the French energy company Areva. The turbines have a new waterproofing system and a simplified and lighter design, which should mean they require fewer expensive maintenance visits and are cheaper and easier to install and maintain. The turbines will stand 90m above the water and have a blade diameter of almost 120m. At full power each of the 5MW turbines will supply enough electricity for 5,000 homes.

turbine blades being hoisted into position

Workers install a wind turbine produced by Multibrid. Multibrid is a German company that has been working on the development and manufacture of the offshore wind energy converter. Photograph: Multibrid GmbH

The offshore turbines in use today are simply windmills designed for use on land that have been taken out to sea. As such they are not optimised for reliability or ease of installation or maintenance, which drives up the cost of their operation. But, according to the Carbon Trust, a British government-backed company which invests in low-carbon technologies, driving down costs is crucial if the UK is to build the minimum of 29GW of offshore wind power needed by 2020 to hit the EU's renewable energy targets.

"Without urgent action", says the Carbon Trust, "there is a risk that little additional offshore wind power will be built by 2020 beyond the 8GW already planned or in operation."

In development for more than a decade, Areva has now unveiled plans to install six of the giant Multibrid M5000 turbines as part of the Alpha Ventus project, Germany's first offshore wind farm to be situated 45km from the island of Borkum. They are expected to be in place by the end of the summer.

Peter Madigan, offshore renewables development manager at the British Wind Energy Association said the Multibrid turbine was an important development: "At present we use onshore wind technology taken offshore. In terms of cost, having devices customised to the offshore environment will help bring prices down."

David Clarke, chief executive of the independent Energy Technologies Institute, agreed the design is a significant advance: "It is the only device at that full-scale 5MW that has been built and tested as an offshore-specific design. On that basis, Areva are leaders."

Turbines designed for use on land are relatively heavy and cost a lot to install and maintain. Areva's design tackles some of these problems by simplifying the engineering, in particular the electrical generator behind the blades. "Coupled with a simplified, novel gearbox, that's exactly the kind of innovation that we're looking for in offshore-specific machines," said Clarke.

The blades are reinforced with carbon fibre to make them as light as possible, and all of the mechanisms needed to change their position relative to the wind are enclosed to prevent sea air damaging them. The nacelle, which contains the generator and major engineering components, is also hermetically sealed against the ambient air.

An Areva spokesperson said reliability was a top priority for the design - all the sensors and power management systems that are critical for the operation of the turbine have been installed in duplicate, to avoid the system shutting down in the event of an individual technical failure. Areva also claims that its wind turbine is simpler to install than standard offshore machines since it is largely assembled and tested onshore, but it will still require a customised barge.

Other research teams have tried to tackle the installation problem by developing turbines that float, but experiments by renewables company Blue H and Norwegian oil giant Statoil are still in the earliest stages.

Both Clarke and Madigan said that offshore wind was important for the UK's future energy mix. "Offshore, you don't have local residents to worry about so you can do bigger turbines and operational noise isn't an issue," said Madigan.

Nominations open for new nuclear sites

The nuclear industry has two months from 27th January 2009 to nominate sites for the first wave of new nuclear power stations in the UK, the Government has announced. The call for nominations came alongside publication of the criteria against which potential sites will be assessed.

The criteria include conditions that new sites should not be near major population centres or certain types of military activity. The industry has indicated that the most suitable sites for new build are in the vicinity of existing nuclear power stations.

Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State at the Dept. of Energy and Climate Change, told the Nuclear Development Forum; "We've taken some big steps towards next generation nuclear in the year since the publication of our White Paper, the industry continues to gear up to invest and we are on course to see new nuclear feeding into the grid by 2018. EdF (EDF Energy, British subsidiary of Électricité de France) has firm plans for new reactors on British Energy land, and other companies have started to form joint ventures.

"We'll be judging each site that gets nominated against the criteria we have set out today and there will be plenty of opportunities for local authorities and the public to have their say on the options tabled.

"Nuclear power can improve energy security and help the drive towards low carbon energy supplies. Alongside renewables and cleaner fossil fuels, it will help us meet our climate change goals as well as ensuring the future supply of energy for the UK."

The criteria are published as part of the response to last year's Strategic Siting Assessment (SSA) consultation at a meeting of the Nuclear Development Forum (NDF) one year on from the publication of the Nuclear Energy White Paper. The NDF brings together senior representatives from the nuclear industry including vendors, operators, key suppliers, contractors and unions involved in the industry, and Government. It meets three times a year and aims to support and advise the Government's OND (Office for Nuclear Development) in its role to develop and maintain the UK as one of the best markets in the world for companies to invest in nuclear power.

Site nominations must be received by 31st March 2009. The list of nominated sites will be published shortly after and there will be an initial month-long opportunity for the public to express their views on how the sites match up to the criteria. The Government will then assess each site to decide if it meets a number of criteria. Sites assessed to be 'strategically suitable' will be listed on the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement (NPS), which will be open for consultation during which communities and Parliament can have their say on the draft list of sites. From 2010, developers may apply to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) for planning permission for those sites which are found to be strategically suitable in the Nuclear NPS. Before a developer applies for permission it has to consult affected Local Authorities and local communities. Communities can also submit written evidence to the IPC on the application and may also be able to speak at particular hearings on a proposal.

Note: The leaflet "New nuclear power stations: how sites will be chosen and how you can have your say" can be found at: www.nuclearpowersiting.decc.gov.uk

Five projects on Severn tidal power shortlist

A proposed shortlist of schemes to generate clean, green electricity from the power of the tides in the Severn estuary has been unveiled by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The shortlist includes a mixture of barrages and innovative lagoon schemes.

Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State at the Dept. of Energy and Climate Change, has also announced £500,000 of new funding to further develop embryonic technologies like tidal reefs and fences. The progress of these technologies will be considered before decisions are taken whether to go ahead with a Severn tidal power scheme.

The tides in the Severn estuary are the second highest in the world. The largest proposal being taken forward has the potential to generate nearly 5% of the UK's electricity from a domestic, low carbon and sustainable source.

Over the past year, the Government-led feasibility study has been investigating a list of ten options, gathering information on the costs, benefits and environmental challenges of using the estuary to generate power.

All ten projects and the proposed shortlist will now be subject to a three month public consultation which begins today.

Ed Miliband said: "Fighting climate change is the biggest long term challenge we face and we must look to use the UK's own natural resources to generate clean, green electricity. The Severn estuary has massive potential to help achieve our climate change and renewable energy targets. We want to see how that potential compares against the other options for meeting our goals. The largest proposal to harness the power of the tides on the shortlist could save as much carbon dioxide as all the residential emissions from Wales. The five schemes shortlisted are what we believe can be feasible, but this doesn't mean we have lost sight of others. Half a million pounds of new funding will go some way to developing technologies still in their infancy, like tidal reef and fences. We will consider the progress of this work before any final decisions are taken. We have tough choices to make. Failing to act on climate change could see catastrophic effects on the environment and its wildlife, but the estuary itself is a protected environment, home to vulnerable species including birds and fish. We need to think about how to balance the value of this unique natural environment against the long-term threat of global climate change. It is vital we seek public views and collect all information we need to make sure our climate change actions are ambitious yet fair."

Jane Davidson, Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, said: "Harnessing the power of the Severn Estuary tides could make a significant contribution towards achieving the UK targets for renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions, but we must ensure that environmental issues are taken fully into account. The shortlisted schemes are based on relatively well understood hydroelectric technologies, with a mix of existing and new engineering structures. It is proposed that the economic, social, and environmental impacts of these be studied further in the second phase of the government study. In addition to the shortlist other, less developed, schemes for capturing tidal energy could have potential in the longer term. I am pleased the Welsh Assembly Government, together with Defra and the South West Regional Development Agency are contributing £500,000 to support the development of innovative options for harnessing tidal power in the Severn Estuary. We are encouraging Welsh companies involved with marine technology to be among those applying for access to this fund to help demonstrate the potential of innovative technologies, as the South West RDA are encouraging those in South West England. We consider it essential that key stakeholders and the public at large are aware of the issues involved in capturing Severn Tidal Power and provide their input into the ongoing studies."

The Dept of Energy and Climate is also publishing, for consultation, the scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment. This is a study which will ensure a detailed understanding of the environmental resource of the estuary, recognising the nature conservation significance and the rivers which flow in to it. The consultation began 26th January 2009 and runs until 23rd April 2009, see www.decc.gov.uk/severntidalpowerconsultation

Images from the DECC consultation website

More images and a map outlining the locations of the five schemes, and visualisations of how they could look, can be viewed on the DECC consultation website, www.decc.gov.uk/severntidalpowerconsultation

Poor Portugal!

Whilst Britain has its environmental problems, it appears that Portugal has even more. They are facing catastrophe from rising greenhouse gas emissions, wasted water, waste disposal, unbridled construction, natural land loss, increasing waste generation and severe coastal erosion due to offshore aggregate dredging. (See 2.2.2 'Human structures and activities have exacerbated coastal erosion' in the Eurosion Report, in which Cove do Vapor is cited, like North Norfolk and others, as experiencing coastal erosion due to marine aggregate dredging)
'Europe - EUROSION Project - 29th October 2005' see MARINET website www.marinet.org.uk/mad/scientificstudies.html#eep or direct at Eurosion www.eurosion.org/reports-online/reports.html

Green party (PEV) Deputy Isabel de Castro says:
"Although Portugal has some of the most advanced environmental laws in the world, and the constitution itself, in an innovative manner, consecrates the environment as a fundamental right, there is a huge gap between the legislation and reality. Not only have public policies in defence of the environment been abandoned, but the growing irresponsibility of the state, the dismantling of oversight and monitoring mechanisms, the lack of political will, and a climate of impunity favour attacks on the environment and environmental degradation."

"It is necessary to sound the alarm in the face of the constant threat to our valuable irrecoverable natural, environmental and cultural patrimony and to our landscape, which are dying because of the complicity by omission of successive governments, which has opened the door to their destruction in the name of fast and easy profits."

Further response by MARINET to AODA Scoping Report

The marine aggregate industry off the East Anglian coast has been required by government to undertake a Regional Environmental Assessment (REA) of its activities and the numerous licences which it holds in this area of the sea. The REA is required to assess the environmental impact of this block of licences and to publish a Report. At the present time the Scoping Study, which defines what the REA study should address, is currently being formulated by the consultants, Emu Ltd, who have published a final draft version of this Scoping Study.

Two further letters have been sent by MARINET dated 23rd and 25th January '09. You can read these on our 'Comments on UK Licence Application page at www.marinet.org.uk/mad/objection.html#rea

EU wants "zero waste and zero emissions" target for shipping

The European Commission has issued a plan to increase the competitiveness of the EU maritime sector and improve its environmental performance by 2018. The plan is also intended to meet objectives in other sectors such as energy and road transport.

The Commission has called for an ambitious long-term "zero-waste, zero-emission" goal for the maritime sector. It has reaffirmed its intention to table draft legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions from ships if world governments fail to agree global reductions this year.

To achieve this long-term goal, the Commission will also propose to strengthen EU legislation on ship waste disposal at port facilities and improve its implementation. It will also make sure member states achieve "good environmental status" in marine waters under the new marine framework directive.

The Commission wants a European environmental management system to monitor improvements in the maritime sector's environmental performance. It would also implement the forthcoming international convention on ship recycling and possibly propose further action in this area.

The next ten years represent a "unique opportunity" to strengthen the shipping sector's contribution to EU goals on sustainable transport, according to the Commission. In particular, it says that promoting short sea shipping will help reduce congestion in the road transport sector. The plan (www.endseurope.com/docs/90121a.doc) was described by maritime affairs commissioner Joe Borg as a "cornerstone" of an action plan published in October 2008. The Commission says it will consult with stakeholders on how to implement actions outlined in the ten-year plan, and the Commission believes its benefits will go beyond the EU, extending to the entire maritime sector.

EU says it will protect the Arctic from increased exploitation

The EU will make sure increased fishing activities and oil exploitation in the Arctic will not lead to significant environmental damage as the melting of the polar ice sheet makes the region more accessible to international shipping, maritime affairs commissioner Joe Borg said on 19th January 2009.

Speaking at a conference on the sustainable management of Arctic resources in Norway, the EU commissioner reaffirmed plans outlined in a strategy for the region announced in November 2008. The strategy aims to reconcile two competing agendas: protecting the environment and securing a share of the Arctic's abundant resources.

The US government has recently issued a plan for the region that mirrors the objectives of the EU strategy. WWF has repeated its call for a moratorium on exploitation in the region and urged Norway to ban any new offshore projects along its coast.

EU proposes "quotas" for sea anglers

The EU is now proposing to ration the number of fish that recreational sea anglers can catch in a further development of its quota system to protect fish stocks via the European Common Fisheries Policy.

The measures are part of a latest package of European Commission proposals under the Common Fisheries Policy aimed at protecting endangered species. Quotas setting limits on how many of certain species including cod, ling and pollack each member state can catch are currently applied only to commercial fishermen.

However now, under these new proposals, member states would have to set aside part of their quota for recreational fishermen who catch only a handful of fish.

When that quota is filled, anglers would be banned from catching any more. The proposals would also prevent them from selling on any fish they catch and would subject them to tougher regulations registering their catches. Boat skippers who take people on recreational fishing trips, a popular excursion for holidaymakers, could be made to apply for licences, giving them extra cost and bureaucracy to contend with. People also fishing from beaches, piers and kayaks face being given strict quotas of how much they can catch.

When this story appeared in the Yorkshire Press, political reaction against the proposal is recorded as being strong.

Tory MP for Scarborough and Whitby Robert Goodwill said: "The amount of fish taken by recreational anglers is minimal and many of them make a real contribution to the coastal resorts. In Whitby there are a number of boats which make their living by taking out recreational anglers, and this will be another restriction for them."

Tory MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber Edward McMillan-Scott said: "It's a ludicrous proposal. I'm very very hostile to the common fisheries policy - I think it's been a disaster in the North Sea. In my time I've seen fleets in Grimsby, Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby decimated. We're now having fishermen scratching for a living and this is just silly. People I've spoken to in Brussels think it's crazy bureaucratic nonsense."

A Defra spokesman said: "This is one of a number of proposed changes by the European Commission which we need to examine carefully, and we are speaking to anglers."

MARINET member writes a history of the US Naval "ghost ships"

Hartlepool Friends of the Earth, who have been involved from the outset in contesting the decision to bring disused US naval ships across the Atlantic for breaking in Hartlepool, has written a full account of this episode from when it was first mooted in 2003 to today when the company, Able UK Ltd, now has the licences it needs and is able to proceed. This account records all the details by which the decision "evolved" and shows how the opposition to such a project, however well grounded its case may be in law and evidence, can still be lost when the authorities have a will to determine otherwise.

Responses to Harbour Dredging Regulations proposed amendments

The ongoing consultation on the proposed amendment of the Marine Works Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007 (see www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/marine-works/index.htm) has produced a number of concerned replies. One of these from a member at Felixstowe follows. Felixstowe has suffered severe erosion ever since port dredging began to deepen the navigation channels. (See the many references by performing a Search for 'Felixstowe' on this our website)

Sustainable Marine Resources and Climate Impacts Team,
Defra Marine Programme,
Area 2E,
Nobel House,
17 Smith Square,
London
SW1P 3JR

Consultation response on an amendment to the Marine Works Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007

Truly independent environmental impact assessments (IEA) are required with vigorous monitoring using appropriate field study methods, results to be available to all stake holders for comment and put in the public domain. It should be borne in mind that harbour dredging/navigation channel dredging may have impacts up stream of such activities as well as on estuaries and adjoining beaches and river banks.

Around the same time that the navigation channel into the port of Felixstowe was deepened and harbour works took place for the Trinity terminal considerable beach draw down occurred i.e. between 2002 and 2006 (see photographs) at Walton-on-the-Naze significant erosion was also noticed. The event at Felixstowe also had economic consequences particularly loss to the local tourist industry.

The use of aggregate for beach recharge may not be economically viable due to the ease that such material can be washed away soon after it has been placed on a diminishing beach. Use in the construction industry may be more appropriate. In any case this aggregate material will need testing for toxins.

I have particular concerns about the implications of self regulation and do not agree that the Port of London Authority should act as both "regulator" and "appropriate authority" such activities should be independent from each other, should be monitored, evaluated with appropriate review mechanisms put in place. Surely, if the Port of London Authority undertakes both activities there will be a conflict of interest.

If there is any adverse impact of the dredging activity appropriate mitigation measures should be put in place to be paid for by the authority undertaking the dredging works and not the local community, government or businesses affected.

EU Commission supports MARINET member over polluting sewage discharges

MARINET member, Robert Latimer, who lives at Whitburn, Tyne and Wear, has secured a decision from the EU Commission to take the first step in legal proceedings against the UK Government for failing to halt sewage discharges to sea at Whitburn which are allegedly in violation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. Similar proceedings are also to be commenced by the Commission against the UK in respect of sewage discharges in London, Torbay and Kilbarchan.

The European Commission's decision to pursue legal action against the United Kingdom involves a breach of EU rules for the collection and treatment of urban waste water. The UK has received a final warning, before possible Court action, for a case which concerns insufficient collection and treatment facilities for four urban centres (London, Torbay, Whitburn and Kilbarchan). The case involves untreated urban waste water being discharged directly into rivers or sea, causing pollution of the environment and health hazards.

The frequency of these overflows can in certain cases exceed 80 times per year, causing millions of cubic meters of untreated waste water to be released. As a result, large scale fish kills may occur and the use of waters for recreational purposes, such as bathing or water sports, is prevented.

The Commission considers that this is in violation of the EU's Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC. This Directive aims at curbing pollution caused by urban waste water (sewage). Discharges of urban waste water causes pollution and threatens the survival of fish. By introducing potentially harmful bacteria and viruses, the discharges also pose human health risks.

Legal Process

Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.

MARINET Responds to AODA Scoping Report

On 26th September 2008 MARINET attended a presentation called by AODA, the Anglian Offshore Dredging Association to help form the requirements of the Scoping Study. For full details of that event please refer to: http://www.marinet.org.uk/mad/objection.html#rea. AODA's company members are CEMEX UK Marine Ltd, Hanson Aggregates Marine Ltd, United Marine Dredging Ltd, Sea Aggregates Ltd and Volker Dredging Ltd who act collectively within the British Marine Aggregates Producers Association (BMAPA). Also members of AODA are CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science), the Crown Estate, and Emu Ltd who are the consultants for the REA.

The Scoping Study is seen by the AODA presenters as a means "to inform and support the industry's applications for licence renewals or new applications ..." whereas MARINET has informed the consultants, Emu Ltd, that its purpose is to provide a fair and balanced assessment of the knowledge available, and therefore full recognition of the impact of offshore dredging.

MARINET has now responded to the draft Scoping Study document with a wide range of suggestions, comments and criticisms which might be used by our members and supporters as a basis to aid their own response supplemented by their own derived concerns.

The Economist magazine warns about damage to our seas

In an leading article titled "A sea of troubles", The Economist magazine has warned that man is assaulting the oceans, and that they will smite him if he does not take care.

"The worries begin at the surface" states The Economist, "where an atmosphere newly laden with man-made carbon dioxide interacts with the briny sea. The sea has thus become more acidic, making life difficult, if not impossible, for marine organisms with calcium-carbonate shells or skeletons. These are not all as familiar as shrimps and lobsters, yet species like krill, tiny shrimp-like creatures, play a crucial part in the food chain: kill them off, and you may kill off their predators, whose predators may be the ones you enjoy served fried, grilled or with sauce tartare. Worse, you may destabilise an entire ecosystem."

"Some of the worrying changes may not be entirely the work of man" observes the magazine," but one that surely has no other cause is the dearth of fish in the sea. Most of the big fish have now been hauled out, and the rest will be gone within decades if the pillage continues at current rates. Indeed, over three-quarters of all marine fish species are below, or on the brink of falling below, sustainable levels. Another change is the appearance of a mass of discarded plastic that swirls round in two clots in the Pacific, each as large as the United States."

"What can be done to put matters right?" asks the magazine. "The sea, the last part of the world where man acts as a hunter-gatherer - as well as bather, miner, dumper and general polluter - needs management, just as the land does. Economics demands it as much as environmentalism, for the world squanders money through its poor stewardship of the oceans. Bad management and overfishing waste $50 billion a year, says the World Bank. . . . But the high seas, beyond the limits of national control, present bigger problems, and many fear that the tuna, sharks and other big fish that swim in the open ocean will be wiped out. Yet international fishing agreements covering parts of the North Atlantic show that management can work even in such common waters - though the Atlantic tuna commission also shows it can fail. And where fishing cannot be managed, it must simply be stopped. Nothing did so much good for fish stocks in northern Europe in the past 150 years as the second world war: by keeping trawlers in port, it let fisheries recover. A preferable solution today would be marine reserves, the more, and the bigger, the better."

Source: For the full text of the article and additional material, see The Economist, 30th December 2008.

Iron-fertilisation experiment in the ocean "should be banned"

Germany's Environment Ministry has called for a ban on a controversial joint German-Indian experiment to seed part of the South Atlantic ocean with iron sulphate in order to stimulate phytoplankton growth (microscopic plants) and thereby absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere.

The scientists involved aim to discharge six tonnes of iron sulphate in the South Atlantic to find out how this affects microscopic marine plants on the ocean surface. Proponents believe iron nutrition will cause this phytoplankton to grow explosively and thus absorb more atmospheric carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, as a result of photosynthesis. It could become an invaluable buffer against global warming, they argue.

Opponents, on the other hand, say the consequences of wide-scale iron fertilisation could be catastrophic. They fear it could cause the sea to become more acidic or trigger algal blooms that would de-oxygenate swathes of the ocean.

German Environment Ministry spokesman, Matthias Machnig, said that the ministry had asked the German research ministry to "immediately halt" the experiment. The test runs counter to a global moratorium on ocean fertilisation established under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Machnig said. It is also reported in the German press that the Environment Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, has written to Research Minister, Annette Schavan, saying the experiment "destroys Germany's credibility and its vanguard role in protecting biodiversity". However, the research ministry has stated that it believed the German institute in question, the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), "had prior agreement with the environment ministry" for carrying out the experiment.

The iron-sowing expedition, named LOHAFEX, comprises 48 scientists, 30 of them from India's National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), aboard the research ship Polarstern. The team set sail from Cape Town on January 7 and after two weeks will arrive in a target zone where the dissolved iron will be discharged over a patch of 300 square kilometres (115 sq. miles). The zone has not been identified. After research, the ship will dock in Punta Arenas, Chile, on March 17.

In a press statement, the Bremerhaven-based AWI said the experiment "is in accordance" with the provisions of the CBD and the London Convention on ocean fertilisation "that call for further research to enhance understanding of ocean iron fertilisation".

Planning for the experiment began in 2005, and the scheme was part of a memorandum of understanding between the AWI and NIO that the two institutes signed during a trip to New Delhi in October 2007 by Chancellor Angela Merkel, it said."The size of the fertilized patch is considerably smaller than the impact of melting icebergs that may leave a swathe of several hundred kilometres (miles) breadth of enhanced iron concentrations," AWI added. "LOHAFEX will contribute legitimate and much needed scientific research to the controversial discussions on ocean fertilization."

Once written off as irresponsible or madcap, geo-engineering schemes are getting a closer hearing in the absence of political progress to roll back the greenhouse gas problem.

Other, far less advanced, projects include sowing sulphur particles in the stratosphere to reflect solar radiation and erecting mirrors in orbit that would deflect sunrays and thus slightly cool the planet.

Green groups are concerned by these projects, and say they could cause more problems than they resolve. They also say these schemes' financial cost is unknown, but possibly far more than the bill for reducing emissions that cause the problem. "This case clearly shows why we need strong, enforceable rules to prevent rogue geo-engineers from unilaterally tinkering with the planet," said Jim Thomas of the ETC Group, an environmental watchdog based in Montreal, Canada.

Source: Agence France Presse and Yahoo News, 14th January 2009

New study claims seas are absorbing less CO₂

Recent studies have shown that the sea is absorbing elevated levels of CO₂, and thus causing the acidification of oceans. Now a new study by Kitack Lee, an associate professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea, claims that the seas in the sea of Japan are beginning to absorb less CO₂ than has believed to be the case. Once again, global warming is being cited as the cause.

The world's oceans soak up about 11bn tonnes of human carbon dioxide pollution each year, about a quarter of all produced, and even a slight weakening of this natural process would leave significantly more CO₂ in the atmosphere. That would require countries to adopt much stricter emissions targets to prevent dangerous rises in temperature. Prof. Kitack Lee who led the research, says the discovery is the "very first observation that directly relates ocean CO₂ uptake change to ocean warming".

He says the warmer conditions disrupt a process known as "ventilation". This is the way seawater flows and mixes and drags absorbed CO₂ from surface waters to the depths. He warns that the effect is probably not confined to the Sea of Japan. It could also affect CO₂ uptake in the Atlantic and Southern oceans.

"Our result in the East Sea unequivocally demonstrated that oceanic uptake of CO₂ has been directly affected by warming-induced weakening of vertical ventilation," he says. Lee adds: "In other words, the increase in atmospheric temperature due to global warming can profoundly influence the ocean ventilation, thereby decreasing the uptake rate of CO₂."

Working with Pavel Tishchenko of the Russian Pacific Oceanological Institute in Vladivostok, Lee and his colleague Geun-Ha Park used a cruise on the Professor Gagarinskiy, a Russian research vessel, last May to take seawater samples from 24 sites across the Sea of Japan. They compared the dissolved CO₂ in the seawater with similar samples collected in 1992 and 1999. The results showed the amount of CO₂ absorbed during 1999 to 2007 was half the level recorded from 1992 to 1999.

Crucially, the study revealed that ocean mixing, a process required to deposit carbon in deep water, where it is more likely to stay, appears to have significantly weakened. Announcing their results in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the scientists say: "The striking feature is that nearly all anthropogenic CO₂ taken up in the recent period was confined to waters less than 300 metres in depth. The rapid and substantial reduction ... is surprising and is attributed to considerable weakening of overturning circulation."

Corinne Le Quéré, an expert in ocean carbon storage at the University of East Anglia, said: "We don't think the ocean is just going to completely stop taking our carbon dioxide emissions, but if the effect weakens then it has real consequences for the atmosphere."

Source: The Guardian 12th January 2009

Coastline campaigners vow to fight on

That's the title of Richard Smith's article appearing in the East Anglian Daily Times of 17th January '09, which reads:

Campaigners trying to protect a vital stretch of the Suffolk coastline warned last night they would not give up their fight despite losing an important battle. The Environment Agency has been given approval to submit a controversial draft strategy to stop maintaining the flood walls around Blythburgh, Southwold, Reydon and Walberswick. These proposals were narrowly backed by the Anglian (eastern) regional flood defence committee meeting at the Environment Agency in Ipswich yesterday.

The EA argues that it would cost £35million to do the maintenance and it is unable to find the funding. But the Blyth Estuary Group says there is a viable alternative costing £2m and the group also point to a recently published report about sedimentation in the estuary. The significance of this report, which is still the subject of debate, hinges on whether the estuary accretes sediment or loses it. If accretion takes place then the river flow will be reduced and there will less impact on the estuary walls.

Mark Johnson, the Environment Agency's area flood risk manager, admitted: "Our initial thought is that we accept that there is more sediment in the estuary than we thought." The Agency is waiting feedback from an independent analyst to assess the impact on the estuary and it was criticised for allowing the draft strategy to go the National Review Group (NRG) before the report had been fully analysed.

Andrew Blois, spokesman for the Blyth Estuary Group, said: "When the strategy for the Blyth was put forward, we suggested that the EA's assumptions did not appear correct and the sedimentation survey supports our conclusions. This means that the existing river walls are more than up to the job if the proper maintenance is carried out, and we believe the work can be done for a fraction of the costs quoted by the EA."

John Goodwin, a member of the regional flood defence committee, warned that there was an "unseemly haste" in pushing through the draft strategy to the NRG when the sedimentation study was still being assessed.

Tony Coe, chairman of the committee, warned that it was imperative that they made a submission to the NRG. "If we do not, then it may be perceived that there is some split in the views of the Environment Agency and the bodies working together. The longer we leave sending it to the NRG then the longer we leave the estuary at a greater risk of serious deterioration. If we have the misfortune to have an inappropriate surge we could suffer serious damage in the short term and there are disbenefits in not sending it to the NRG," he said.

Richard Steward, a member of the Blyth Estuary Group, said after the meeting: "We are very disappointed that they are passing this through to the NRG, a strategy which has been shown to be scientifically baseless. We think this will be rubber stamped which will lead to the eventual abandonment of the Blyth estuary."

Guy McGregor, chairman of the Blyth Strategy Group, said: "They have been determined to push this through. I'm obviously disappointed, but we're going to keep on fighting. These defences have been protecting the land for 300 years and there is still work going on, particularly work at Southwold Harbour, which has not been taken into account."

Fight is on to stop bay sand dredging plan

From "This is South Wales" Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

CAMPAIGNERS aiming to protect Gower beaches are vowing to step up their fight against a building firm's sand dredging plan. Llanelli Sand Dredging is still hoping to get permission from the Assembly to dredge material off the coast of Swansea Bay. Concerned residents and local groups, who insist the process damages the region's beaches, said they were gearing up for the release of key data on the environment.

Their cause has won the backing of Tory AM Alun Cairns, who is calling on more people in South West Wales to get on board with the campaign. He said: "I remember a meeting when some researchers claimed the levels of sand on Gower beaches was increasing. If such claims are repeated, we need to be in a position to reject them immediately. If we aren't going to scrutinise the data collected, then who is?"

Mr Cairns said: "It is up the Assembly and Swansea Council to make the information available in a readable form." In the meantime, campaigners said they would press ministers at the Senedd to change policies on dredging. Port Eynon mayor Linda Newland believed they had a strong case. She said: "If they are dredging sand from Nobel, then why do they need to do it at Helwick as well?"

A spokesman for Llanelli Sand Dredging said: "Dredging (is) restricted to two or three short periods each year, which together total no more than about eight to 10 weeks. Dredging on the licence area only takes place for about two hours in each 24 hour period."

Coast Campaigners anticipating bitter blow

Campaigners fighting to protect their land and homes from being lost to the sea could be dealt a bitter blow this week if the Environment Agency's controversial strategy to stop maintaining flood defences is given the green light at a meeting of their Eastern Regional Flood Defence Committee on Friday 16th January.

Claiming that they cannot afford the £35m needed to maintain them, the EA want to cease repairing the flood walls which protect thousands of acres of land, twenty homes and the main A12 road around Blythburgh, Southwold, Reydon and Walberswick from flooding. Members of the Blyth Estuary Group continue to campaign to protect the protective mud banks which stop thousands of acres of land, about 20 homes and the A12 trunk road from flooding.

Peter Boggis v Natural England II

Natural England have gone to appeal against the December High Court finding regarding their attempt to prevent Peter Boggis from defending his Easton Bavents property from erosion (See www.marinet.org.uk/latestnews.html#pbvn)

In the Lowestoft Journal of 9th January '08' Hayley Mace reports the detail how on 9th January '08 Natural England announced that they are appealing against the High Court judgement.

Although a one-off case, the final decision will undoubtedly have a bearing on many similar cases in the future when people's right to protect their property clash with those bodies opposed to such measures.

Erosion at Dorset's Studland Bay

Studland Bay, one of Britain's most famous beaches that forms part of of 279km (173 miles) of coastline in south-west England now rapidly eroding, co-oincidental with ongoing offshore aggregate dredging. Like similar once stable counterparts on the East Coast, the beach is disappearing, the dunes are being undermined and soon the beach huts, visitor centre, car park and restaurant will be lost.

postage stamp with image of Studland Bay

The 2002 postage stamp below shows Studland Bay as it was then

The gabions (rock filled metal grilles) earlier placed by the National Trust have been washed away, but instead of attempting sustainable beach stabilising, the NT is now abandoning the scene by accepting the dictates of 'Managed Retreat' with the obvious consequences.

There is a short BBC film clip to be seen here whilst an article by Louise Gray in The Telegraph of 26th December '09 tells to whole story under 'National Trust abandons beach to erosion'

Vital Need for Marine Reserves

US vows 'huge' marine protection

The US is to establish what it calls "the largest area of protected sea in the world" around its Pacific islands.

Commercial fishing and mining will be banned in the protected zones which include the Marianas Trench, the deepest area of ocean on the planet. The area totals 500,000 sq km (190,000 sq miles) of sea and sea floor.

While welcoming the protection package, environmental activists said that without curbing climate change, the other measures would be meaningless.

Slowdown of coral growth extremely worrying, say scientists

Scientists researching coral growth across the Great Barrier Reef, are extremely worried by the severe and sudden slowdown in growth that is unprecedented in the last four centuries. Increasing ocean acidification due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are being put forward as the most probable explanation.

Turbulent times ahead predicted for Off-shore Wind

An ENDS Report (Environmental News and Data Service) has considered the prospects for off-shore wind in the light of the global financial crisis.

In January 2007 European Commission president José Manuel Barroso called for a "new industrial revolution" that would transform Europe into a low-carbon economy. The development of the EU offshore wind sector lay at the heart of this vision. Offshore wind technology can not only cut Europe's greenhouse gas emissions and its dependency on fossil fuel imports, but also create a source of economic growth and jobs.

To ensure that the vision becomes a reality, in January 2008 the Commission proposed its now famous 20:20:20 goals. Although the climate and energy package had no specific objectives for offshore wind, targets to cut EU emissions by a fifth and boost the bloc's share of renewables to 20 per cent by 2020 were thought sufficient to realise the sector's potential. But by the end of 2008, the initial zeal has been replaced by growing unease after the dramatic collapse of the world's financial markets. Firms across Europe have begun reviewing their planned renewable energy investments.

As a direct result, BP and Shell have dropped plans to invest in the UK's wind sector, while others have warned they may slow the rate of their renewables investments. "Wind farms becalmed by turmoil" ran a headline in the UK's Financial Times in November.
More information from National Wind Watch at www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/11/24/wind-farms-becalmed-by-turmoil

Today offshore wind is only a fraction of the renewable power generated each year in Europe. At about 1,500 megawatts of installed capacity in 2008, the sector is still dwarfed by its onshore equivalent with a capacity of 55,000MW. The supremacy of onshore generation in the EU will continue until well beyond 2020, according to the head of the European Wind Energy Association (Ewea), Christian Kjaer. Based on projects already planned, Ewea estimates that by 2015 offshore wind capacity will grow to 30,000MW. It predicts that at some point between 2020 and 2030, offshore wind will overtake onshore in terms of new generating capacity added each year.

This phenomenal rate of predicted growth is one reason why the offshore wind sector is so central to Europe's low-carbon transformation. Another is its long-term potential. Eddie O'Connor, the founder and former chief executive of renewable energy company Airtricity, started his latest venture, Mainstream Renewable Power, in February. "You can get to around 10 per cent of total electricity generation from onshore wind before growth grinds to a halt, as it has in Denmark and is doing in Germany. But when you move offshore, there is an infinite reserve of generating capacity between 45 and 60 degrees latitude," he explains.

But what effect, if any, has the current financial crisis had on the sector's prospects for development? "We're definitely in a worse situation than we were three months ago," says Mr Kjaer. "No industry could say otherwise, and the wind sector is certainly not immune to the current financial crisis."

One factor that renders the sector vulnerable is that building an offshore wind farm requires a huge upfront investment. "It's a very capital-intensive technology, even when compared to coal and gas fired plants," says Mr Kjaer. "Having less liquidity in the economy certainly has an impact."

It is a view backed by the offshore developers. Albert van der Hem is project director for Dutch renewables developers Evelop. The firm built one of Europe's newest offshore wind farms, the Princess Amalia in the Netherlands, using mostly leveraged bank finance. "If you go to the banks for funding now, you'll find some are 'closed' till the end of the year, but others will still provide finance," he says. "We are currently achieving financial closure for new offshore wind projects in the North Sea. We are confident we can announce those deals in the near future."

Evelop is putting together similar finance deals to the one used to build the Princess Amalia wind farm. The conditions, however, are now different as risk premiums are higher. "We were the first in the world to achieve non-recourse project finance for an offshore wind farm," explains Mr van her Hem. "What we are also doing is bringing down the capital expenditure of these projects. We have already seen the price of commodities such as oil, copper and steel go down, so we are talking to our suppliers and asking them to reduce their prices."

Interest rates have fallen sharply in recent months, making lending cheaper. Labour costs are also falling, bringing down construction and maintenance costs. "Maybe all of this will balance out in the end," suggests Mr van der Hem.

Another source of optimism is provided by what is normally seen as a brake on developing offshore wind - a bottleneck in the global supply of wind turbines. "Manufacturers' order books are already full until 2009 or 2010, which should help cushion the industry from the short-term effects of the credit crunch," explains Ewea's Mr Kjaer. "Some of these existing orders are still conditional on securing the necessary finance," he adds. "If the funding can't be secured through the banks, we may see large energy utilities with very deep pockets take the opportunity to buy up turbines from independent operators." Mr Kjaer says the prospect of more investment in offshore wind by traditional energy firms "is not necessarily a bad thing".

Some experts argue that the current financial situation will have little effect on the sector's development. Eddie O'Connor says: "Offshore wind is a long-term phenomenon. In the UK for example, under the government's current third round of offshore development, planning permission will only be granted in 2013. The financial crisis will be resolved by then."

Instead, the factor that will govern the pace of development, according to Mr O'Connor and others, is the construction of a European offshore "supergrid". This is a series of cables and interconnectors - similar to the onshore power grid - that will enable electricity generated offshore to be conducted back to land, as well as allowing electricity to be traded between European countries to exploit peaks in supply and demand. Mr Kjaer agrees that the grid is "probably the biggest stumbling block" the sector faces. "If we can get that right, then the turbines will automatically follow."

The European Commission identified the growth of an offshore grid as one of its priorities in a November policy paper on offshore wind in "2020 and beyond". It has promised to draw up a blueprint within the next two years for building it in the North Sea - the first stage in a planned European supergrid.

A European offshore grid will also require a new offshore transmission system operator (TSO), argues Mr O'Connor. "We've got to stop thinking about wind in national terms and start to see it as a continental phenomenon." He suggests creating an offshore TSO with jurisdiction over the North Sea, made up of representatives from national TSOs and the EU. "The EU has already got the message about the supergrid. Now it's about addressing the practical issues to build it by 2015: standards, location, price allocation, and who's going to pay."

Claude Turmes, the Green MEP who in December led the talks with EU governments that culminated in agreement on the renewable energy directive, says: "It's purely a question of political will. All we need is a clear decision on who will build the grid, which should be the current grid operators, and who will pay for it, which should be energy consumers. Then I think we will be surprised by the pace of development in offshore wind".

There is a chance that the development of offshore wind, and specifically the supergrid, will benefit from the current financial crisis. At the beginning of December the commission proposed a €200bn "EU economic recovery plan" calling for huge investment to modernise Europe's infrastructure. One specific element in the plan foresees several billion euros being made available over the next two years for "trans-European energy interconnections". Another would see the European investment bank increase its funding for energy security and infrastructure projects by up to €6bn a year.

For Mr Kjaer, it is essential that the financial crisis is not allowed to delay developing the supergrid. "What happens in the next two or three years will be crucial in shaping the offshore wind market even up to 2050", he says. "My fear is that a lack of coordination between member states will stifle the rapid growth of the sector now. There's no doubt that Europe will develop offshore wind in the coming 30 years or so. The question is: will it happen as fast as the climate scientists tell us it needs to."

UK Shipowners seek global emissions trading

The UK's main organisation for shipowners has announced in a surprise break with the industry consensus that world shipping should be subject to an international emissions trading system, similar to those for other polluting industries. The call by the UK Chamber of Shipping marks the first time a shipping industry body has called for the sector's inclusion in such a scheme which could cost shipowners billions of dollars a year.

Under a scheme, a version of which operates in Europe's power industry, polluters are either given or must buy permits for their current level of emissions and must buy from other participants permits for any extra emissions. The UK Chamber of Shipping retains significant influence because of Britain's past as the world's most important maritime nation and the strong growth in UK vessel registrations after the introduction of an attractive taxation regime.

However, any change looks years away. To be effective, a scheme would need to be an international one mandated by the International Maritime Organisation. There is strong opposition there, particularly from developing countries, to a worldwide scheme. Most shipping organisations play down the significance of shipping's carbon emissions - which account for only about 3 per cent of the world total - and advocate reducing them through voluntary action to make engines more efficient and cleaner. Announcing the organisation's decision, Martin Watson, president of the Chamber of Shipping, said that his organisation had come out in favour of emissions trading, partly because of the threat that otherwise national or regional governments could formulate their own ad hoc rules to handle the issue, making policy far more confused. The Chamber stressed that it had not yet developed an exact model for a shipping trading scheme or decided how permits should be distributed. However, Rob Ashdown, the organisation's technical manager, said if the cost for emitting each tonne of carbon were €30 ($41, £27), shipping would pay about €11bn a year under a scheme.

Oil companies storing oil on ships as oil tanks

Forbes magazine is citing a Reuters report, dated 20th November 2008, that three oil companies plan to store millions of barrels of crude oil at sea as they wait for demand to pick up and prices to rise.

The Reuters report is quoting brokers who have said that oil companies have booked ships capable of holding up to 10 million barrels, more than the daily output of Saudi Arabia. Both the U.S. oil trader, Koch, and Royal Dutch Shell have confirmed bookings of additional Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), say brokers according to Reuters.

Brokers said the cost of hiring vessels at current depressed rates would be less than the gains from waiting for an upturn in crude prices and in refiners' profit margins. More oil and trading firms were also considering floating storage, they said. "If you're looking at it from a cost perspective, just float the oil. The way to make money is to buy long and then go short," one trader said. Some of the vessels were to load crude in the North Sea, the first time large volumes have been placed in floating storage there since the oil price crashed to below $10 a barrel in 1998. "All this oil has to go somewhere, especially if the refiners aren't running at capacity," a Singapore-based crude oil trader said.

Koch has booked VLCC the Dubai Titan, with capacity to hold over two million barrels, for storage off the U.S. Gulf Coast. They added that Koch had already taken two other VLCCs for storage in the US Gulf. Oil major Shell has booked a second supertanker to store North Sea crude, ship brokers said. They said Shell would use the Front Crown to load North Sea crude in the second week of December. The vessel will travel east to Indonesia's Karimun Islands, where oil is often transferred from supertankers to smaller vessels for delivery. Shell has also booked another supertanker to take two million barrels from the North Sea for storage in the U.S. Gulf.

For Middle Eastern exporters, responsible for the bulk of any OPEC output cut, it is still cheaper to keep the oil in the ground. "The only reason as a producer you would pay money to put crude in floating storage would be if you would otherwise struggle to get it out of the ground," said one Gulf industry source.

EDM 337 calls for Highly Protected Marine Reserves in Marine Bill

A Parliamentary device known as an Early Day Motion is being used to call for a widespread network of highly protected marine reserves, throughout all UK seas, to be incorporated into the Marine and Coastal Access Bill in line with the recommendation by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in their 25th Report.

This Early Day Motion, EDM 337 has been tabled by Bill Wiggin MP (Conservative, Leominster) and Katy Clark (Labour, North Ayrshire and Arran). The EDM has the support of the Conservative front bench and Labour backbench support, with Liberal front bench support being sought.

EDM 337 has been promoted by MARINET who believes that the Government is prepared to listen to arguments that the Royal Commission recommendation on highly protected marine reserves should be incorporated into the Marine Bill, and if significant Members of Parliament sign-up to this EDM it will be a clear demonstration of belief within Parliament itself and by its elected members that this amendment to the Marine Bill is both desirable and necessary.

If you would like to assist in this important campaign to secure your Member of Parliament's support for EDM 337, then please visit the lobby facility on the MARINET Marine Reserves website www.marinereserves.org.uk.

EDM 337 reads: "That this House notes the recommendation made by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in their 25th Report in 2004 that a widespread network of highly protected marine reserves throughout all UK seas is an important marine management tool which is required in order to rebuild UK commercial fish stocks and to halt the serious damage being caused to marine ecosystems; and calls upon the Government to develop selection criteria under the Marine Bill for establishing a network of protected marine areas based around science-based decision making."

The Co-operative Society launches campaign for "Marine Reserves Now!"

The Co-operative Society in conjunction with the Marine Conservation Society www.mcsuk.org has launched a campaign for marine reserves to play a dominant role in the Marine and Coastal Access Bill which was introduced into Parliament on 15th December 2008.

The Co-op and MCS believe that urgent action is required to save our seas, and that the Marine Bill is the opportunity to secure this action. "The oceans are losing their biodiversity at an accelerating rate", says the Co-operative Society. "In UK waters there are 22 species of wildlife considered to be facing the threat of global extinction. Once common species, such as Atlantic Cod and Halibut, are on lists of threatened or endangered species and only eight of the 47 fish stocks found around the British Isles remain in a healthy state."

"Marine habitats and fish stocks," say the Co-op"continue to be damaged by destructive fishing techniques, e.g. it has been estimated that for every 1kg of North Sea Sole caught by beam trawl, up to 14kg of other seabed animals are killed. If the marine environment is to recover from decades of overfishing and habitat destruction, scientists recommend that 30% of our seas should be fully protected."

As a result, the Co-op and the Marine Conservation Society have launched a campaign which asks members of the public to contact their Member of Parliament to call for a strong Marine Bill, and for 30% of UK waters to be designated as highly protected marine reserves. To support the Co-op and MCS campaign and to lobby your MP, visit www.co-operative.coop/en/MarineReservesNow

MARINET greatly welcomes this initiative by the Co-op and the Marine Conservation Society, and joins these two organisations in campaigning for highly protected marine reserves covering 30% of UK seas, see www.marinereserves.org.uk

Marine Bill receives its Second Reading in the House of Lords

The Marine and Coastal Access Bill has commenced its consideration by Parliament with its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 15th December 2008. It successfully passed this stage, and will now be debated by Peers in detail during the Committee Stage which will commence in early January.

MARINET is campaigning for amendments to the Marine Bill which will ensure that the ecosystem-based approach to marine management becomes part of the Bill, and for the Bill to place a duty upon the Government to create an extensive network of highly protected marine conservation zones covering at least 30% of UK seas by 2015. Highly protected marine conservation zones (MCZs) are the primary management tool of the ecosystem-based approach to marine management and are regarded by the RCEP and European marine scientists as essential if we are to restore health back to the UK's seas. At present, neither the ecosystem-based approach nor highly protected MCZs are part of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.

A number of Peers spoke in favour of MARINET's proposals and amendments during the Second Reading, and if you would like to join the MARINET campaign to secure these amendments, visit www.marinereserves.org.uk.

UK Government publishes Marine and Coastal Access Bill

At the State Opening of Parliament on 3 December 2008, HM the Queen announced in her speech that the current Parliamentary session will include a Marine and Coastal Access Bill. The Bill was introduced to the House of Lords on 4 December 2008 and had its Second Reading there on 15 December. It is due to start its Committee stages in the House of Lords in early January.

The Bill introduces a new planning system for the sea, to be implemented by a new Government Agency known as the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), see www.defra.gov.uk/marine/legislation/key-areas.htm#1. This new planning system will, in many respects, mirror the processes which are now standard on land. The Bill will also give powers to the MMO to institute a reformed licensing system for marine activities such as aggregate extraction, harbour dredging, renewable energy projects and the laying of seabed cables. However, for large energy projects over 100MW licensing will be undertaken by the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IFC) and not the MMO, see www.defra.gov.uk/marine/pdf/legislation/marine-licensing.pdf

The Bill will introduce new public rights of access to the coast and aims to create, as far as possible, a coastal path all around the UK, see www.defra.gov.uk/marine/legislation/key-areas.htm#8, and is reforming the management of fisheries within the 12 nautical mile territorial limit, see www.defra.gov.uk/marine/legislation/key-areas.htm#5. The Bill will not however reform fisheries management beyond 12 nautical miles out to the 200 nautical mile limit of the UK Exclusive Economic Zone as this area for fisheries management is currently administered by the EU and its Common Fisheries Policy.

Importantly, the Bill is seeking to reform marine nature conservation and is creating a new type of protected area known as a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) with a duty upon the Secretary of State to ensure that these MCZs form a network in order to protect our seas, and an obligation to report to Parliament every six years on how the process of creating and managing this network of MCZs is progressing, see www.defra.gov.uk/marine/legislation/key-areas.htm#4

MARINET observes that the Marine and Coastal Access Bill is an important step forward in marine management policy, and is to be greatly welcomed. Never before has such legislation on UK seas been presented to Parliament, and it is very unlikely that such legislation will be repeated in the near future. The Marine Bill is thus a unique opportunity to tackle the many serious problems which currently afflict our seas, our fisheries and our marine ecosystem, see www.marinet.org.uk/marinebill/marinebillsubmission1.pdf

In MARINET's opinion, the key to the building and implementing of a new management approach to our seas lies in seeing the sea as an ecosystem whose integrity must be protected, rather than the current management view which sees the sea as a collection of resources each to be individually exploited. This new thinking is known as the "ecosystem-based approach" to marine management and is supported by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in their 25th Report, see www.rcep.org.uk/fishreport.htm, and EU marine scientists in the York and Valencia Declarations 2008, see www.marinet.org.uk/latestnews.html#wcom. The key management tool of the ecosystem-based approach is the marine reserve and, in particular, the highly protected marine reserve which forbids all extractive and damaging activities within its boundaries. By this means, marine management is able to protect and rebuild the integrity of the marine ecosystem as a whole and thus restore, for example, our severely damaged commercial fish populations.

At the present time, the Marine Bill neither mentions the ecosystem-based approach nor gives it a legal framework, and the Bill confers no powers or duty upon the UK Government to create the ecosystem-based approach's key management tool: highly protected marine conservation zones (marine reserves). MARINET believes that the Bill will ultimately fail in its purpose if it does not contain these powers, and MARINET is therefore campaigning for this fundamental reform, see www.marinereserves.org.uk

Power from Tidal Currents - grossly undervalued

The Carbon Trust's Future Marine Energy (January 2006) gave a low figure for the total UK resource and relatively high costs for power from marine currents. How reliable are its projections?

Further study shows oceans acidifying faster than expected

Parts of the world's oceans appear to be acidifying far faster than scientists have expected. The culprit is rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere pumped into the air from cars, power plants, and industries. The Southern Ocean represents one of the most high-profile examples. There, scientists estimate that the ocean could reach a biologically important tipping point in wintertime by 2030, at least 20 years earlier than scientists projected only three years ago. Among the vulnerable species is a tiny form of sea snail that serves as food for a wide range of fish. Similar trends are appearing in more temperate waters, say researchers.

The studies suggest the CO₂ emission targets being considered for a new global warming treaty are likely to be inadequate to prevent significant, long-lasting changes in some ocean basins. Scientists over the past decade have detected a clear shift toward acidity since pre-industrial times. The new research draws on long-term data on changes in ocean chemistry and the effect of those changes on marine life. The data are giving scientists their first clear look at the importance of natural swings in sea-water acidification in estimating overall acidification trends and tipping points. But even these new studies may be conservative. Recent global CO₂ emissions have been outstripping so-called business-as-usual emissions scenarios, which assume that no country adopts climate-specific limits on emissions.

Typically, seawater is heavily saturated with dissolved calcium carbonate from eroded limestone. This neutralizes any acid that forms from CO₂ and leaves plenty of carbonate for marine creatures to use for shell and reef-building. But as oceans absorb increasing amounts of CO₂ from fossil fuels, their stores of calcium carbonate dip. Over time, this reduces carbonate available for marine creatures. Shell and coral formation slows. Once seawater is too deficient in carbonate, these creatures find it hard to form shells or corals at all. In fact, existing shells start to dissolve, notes Ben McNeil, a researcher at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

In a recent study, he and a colleague looked at trends in the Southern Ocean. Oceans at the top and bottom of the world might be expected to lead in acidification because cold water soaks up more CO₂ than warm water. But the duo also found large seasonal swings in carbonate levels. They traced increases in the water's relative acidity to strong wintertime winds off Antarctica that bring to the surface cold water from the deep, which has low levels of carbonate.

The challenge, Dr. McNeil says, is that this seasonal peak in acidification comes just as tiny swimming snails - which some call potato chips of the sea - exist as larvae. The tiny zooplankton, called pteropods, need carbonate to build their shells. They represent a vital source of food for many fish. Some pteropods already show signs of dissolving shells, the team reports.

With a business-as-usual emissions scenario, McNeil and his colleague estimate that the Southern Ocean is likely to reach a wintertime tipping point for these creatures when atmospheric CO₂ concentrations reach 450 parts per million, versus today's level of around 383 ppm. That would occur by 2030 and no later than 2038, they estimate. The results appear in the Dec. 9 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Carbon Trust ventures £1M on Marine Energy research

The Carbon Trust is to invest in way-out ideas (Press Release 18 Dec), instead of in existing devices that offer real prospect in the short term. The relatively trivial cost-saving claimed (20%) implies there's far greater value in R&D on wave and tidal stream devices. The Treasury refused to fund these, claiming them to be "near-market" and the Carbon Trust is stuck in the same rut.

Dutch Shoreline Restoration by Beach Recharge

Under the heading 'Sand suppletions' the Dutch Rijkwaterstaart National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management report on their beach recharge schemes and the levels of sand placed on them. It appears that such methodology can work well when performed thoroughly using a sufficiency of material taken well away from the shoreline, as indicated by the quote "Experience of 10 years of dynamic management has taught that coastal decline is generally under control". Details and graphs of their beach recharge schemes may be seen in full by visiting here.

Co-op calls for "Marine Reserves Now"

The Co-operative Group wants 30% of UK waters to become "no-take" reserves by 2020 to reverse decades of overfishing.

Now that the Marine and Coastal Access Bill has been published, there has been a spate of articles in the national press on the bill and the issues surrounding it.

These press and broadcast pieces all fail to address the key issue from the point of view of the MARINET Marine Reserves Campaign, which is that, the Bill as it stands, will not enable marine reserves to be set up with sufficient speed or with the necessary environmental controls to achieve ecosystem and economic recovery.

The urgency of the crisis must be reflected in an amendment to the Bill to make the introduction of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution recommendation a binding obligation on the Minister.

Sizewell - stability, sense and the sea

Since our earlier items on the threat of offshore aggregate dredging to the stability of the Sizewell nuclear power station, and since the truly amazing plan to increase aggregate dredging there (Area 430) and our objection to this (see the correspondence under 'Area 430 - East of Southwold, Suffolk' under www.marinet.org.uk/mad/objection.html#430 Greenpeace have now expressed their concern. This is based not upon the greatest threat, the likely erosion, but by sea rise.

Nudists Feeling the Pinch

The loss of East Anglian beaches since the onset of commercial scale offshore dredging has now chilled (in the old sense of the verb) the nudists who use the beach at Corton, Suffolk.

This long sandy beach designated over thirty years ago for nudist bathing averaged 34 metres in width until 1988. But by 1988 it was drawn down to 25 metres and to only 7 metres in 2008. The result is that Waveney District Council feel that the 80% loss of area no longer allows sufficient spacing between the public and those wearing just a smile, and are considering closure.

Alasdair McGregor has published an article on it entitled 'Suffolk nudist beach under threat' in the Eastern Daily Press of 8th December '08 that can be read in the EDP-24.

Salmon stocks in Canada in steep decline due to overfishing

Salmon stocks in British Columbia are on the brink of collapse largely because the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has consistently allowed too many fish to be killed in commercial and recreational fisheries, according to a new research paper.

The high exploitation of stocks, which draws parallels with the destruction of Atlantic cod by overfishing, may be more to blame for the decline of Pacific salmon than global warming or poor ocean conditions, says the study assessing salmon management practices, published by the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

The researchers, from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the University of California, also conclude that DFO has been managing on the basis of biased data because it has stopped monitoring hundreds of streams with weak runs, choosing to focus on stronger runs only. As a result, managers have a flawed picture that suggests salmon stocks are much healthier than they really are.

The researchers said that based on the monitoring of 137 streams between 2000 and 2005, DFO found 35 per cent of salmon runs in northern B.C. were classified as depressed. But an assessment based on 215 streams that included weak stocks rated 75 per cent of runs as depressed.

"The lack of information [fisheries managers have] is troubling," said Misty MacDuffee, one of three biologists on the research team. "The precautionary approach has to be at the forefront of fisheries management... but not having accurate information will lead to overfishing, as it did with Atlantic cod," she said.

The paper examined data over a 55-year period in order to evaluate DFO's effectiveness in hitting escapement targets. Escapement targets refer to the number of salmon that escape commercial, recreational and native food fisheries to make it to the spawning grounds. Escapement targets are considered the bottom line in fisheries management and are used to justify fishery catch limits.

If an adequate number of fish are allowed to spawn, the rest are considered surplus and can be caught in commercial, sport or native food fisheries. But the research paper, "Ghost runs: management and status assessment of Pacific salmon returning to British Columbia's central and north coasts," found that since 1950 DFO has failed to reach escapement targets 50 per cent of the time. And during the 2000-2005 period, chum, sockeye and chinook runs failed to hit escapement targets up to 85 per cent of the time.

"Data... which span nearly six decades, show that management has repeatedly not met DFO's own target levels. This resulted in diminished runs for all species in nearly every decade," the researchers state."Although climate and ocean survival likely play substantial roles,multiple lines of evidence suggest that over exploitation may be the greatest cause of salmon declines across the Northeast Pacific," they say.

The researchers say cutting catch rates can have dramatic results and they note some stocks that recovered when fishing overexploitation was stopped.

The researchers were Michael Price, Nicola Temple and Ms. MacDuffee, all staff biologists with the Raincoast, a B.C. non-profit organization, and Chris Darimont, Department of Environmental Studies, University of California.
Source: Toronto Globe and Mail, Dec. 3, 2008

Peter Boggis v Natural England

There has been a long ongoing debate over the DIY right of Peter Boggis to attempt to safeguard his property from the sea in the absence of provided defences and the presence of (mis)Managed Retreat. A 'Google search' for 'Peter Boggis' on this website will cover the history, whilst an inspection of the Eastern Daily Press Forum pages shows many recent concerned comments.
Along with The Independent and the TV and Radio media The Eastern Daily Press of 5th December covers the story of this David over Goliath High Court victory in the following article written by Hayley Mace

Coastal defence campaigner wins High Court battle

Peter Boggis pictured in 2007 with his eroded sea defences at Easton Bavents. Photo: Andy Darnell.

Retired engineer Peter Boggis today won a High Court battle for the right to attempt to save his clifftop home from falling into the North Sea. Mr Boggis has fought a long and expensive battle to protect homes in Easton Bavents, north of Southwold, from falling into the sea but Natural England, the body responsible for the country's natural features, have fought against his plans because they want to allow the fossil-bearing cliffs near his homes to erode 'for scientific reasons'.

The ruling was a victory for Mr Boggis, 77, who has spent thousands of pounds building his own sea defences out of 250,000 tonnes of compacted clay soils. He will not be able to resume maintenance of his sea defences until after a possible appeal by Natural England after today's ruling.

Mr Boggis said this morning: "Mr Justice Blair's judgment lifts a great shadow from my mind and gives hope for the future of those that live by the coast of Britain. We have lived a nightmare in recent years. Inconvenient or not to bureaucracy, the defence of the coast should not be walked away from. As I start again the maintenance and reconstruction of the simple sea defence of Easton Bavents, my neighbours will again be able to sleep without worry, instead of wondering if their homes will be lost in the next storm."

Mr Boggis was awarded 80pc of his costs and both parties were granted permission to appeal the ruling.

Malcolm Kerby of the Happisburgh based Coastal Concern Action Group, who has known Mr Boggis for several years and has shared a platform with him at public meetings in the past, said he was delighted by the victory. He said: "I would like to congratulate him. Peter Boggis is one of life's absolute gentlemen and a brave man indeed. "He has soldiered on against all the odds and he has not allowed the great machinery of government to intimidate him. It is a shot in the arm for all coastal dwellers."

Helen Phillips, chief executive of Natural England, said: "It is right that outstanding sites such as the Easton Bavents cliffs area are recognised for what they are and designated as areas of national conservation importance. "Natural England has a legal duty to do this. However, designation does not make it in any way inevitable that Mr Boggis will lose his home and we have no desire to see this happen. Regardless of whether the area is a SSSI or not, it remains open to Mr Boggis to seek the necessary legal permissions from the District Council and the Environment Agency for the sea defences he wishes to put in place. To date, Mr Boggis has not chosen to go pursue this route. We would encourage him to do so rather than present legal challenges that bring him no closer in determining whether his sea defences can be declared legal or not".

Loss of our precious RSPB bird sites to the sea

As well as the 11 hectares (the bulk of the reserve) set to be lost to the sea at RSPB's Titchwell Marsh and the loss of the shingle bank that will bring about first the salination then the loss of Cley Marshes (the biggest coastal marsh area in the country) we now learn of the threat to the loss of 60 acres of the world famous Minsmere RSPB Reserve to the sea.
RSPB have failed to heed the advice given them by MARINET and Sustainable Coastlines and instead have capitulated to the government's Managed Retreat policy. They wrote "We looked at the options for building up the beach. We believe you need to allow the coast to do what it wants to do to build up natural processes. We looked at building a sea wall but that doesn't really fit in with us because it's not very green having concrete everywhere".
David Green in The East Anglian Times of 19th November '08 reported the issue under.

Famous nature reserve will be lost to the sea

More than 60 acres of nature reserve on the Suffolk coast are to be abandoned to the North Sea. The Environment Agency will on Friday reveal plans to "withdraw maintenance" from an earth bank which protects part of the internationally important Minsmere nature reserve, between Dunwich and Sizewell.

Dunes protecting the bank have been severely eroded in recent years and officials believe that spending further money in trying to shore-up the defence cannot be justified - because the sea would soon break through. It will mean that more than 60 acres freshwater marsh at RSPB Minsmere, used by the rare bittern as well as marsh harriers, bearded tits and otters, will become more vulnerable to saltwater flooding.

While it does not believe that continued maintenance of the wall is economically or environmentally sustainable, the Environment Agency is also proposing to spend £1million in raising the height of another wall, known as Coney Wall or North Wall, which runs east west from the beach towards the Minsmere visitors centre. This wall protects the most important part of Minsmere - an area of more than 750 acres of freshwater habitat which is the main feeding and breeding ground of the bittern and many other species of bird. Agency officials believe that maintenance of this wall will protect the area for at least 50 years. However, both the agency and the RSPB acknowledge that much of Minsmere will be lost to the sea in the long term and the search has already started for compensatory habitat further inland. The Environment Agency is obliged under European Union law to replace such habitat.

The agency's "preferred option" for sea defence in the area - the culmination of five years work - is to go on public display at Leiston on Friday and people will have three months to give their response. Stuart Barbrook, the agency's project manager, said yesterday that a range of options had been examined for defending the area over the next 100 years. The RSPB, the National Trust, which owns Dunwich Heath to the north, and British Energy, owner of most of the Sizewell nuclear site to the south, had been consulted.

Among the options had been the construction of off-shore reefs and beach groynes - work which would cost many millions of pounds. A "do nothing" option would mean that the whole of the Minsmere reserve would be at risk of saltwater flooding," Mr Barbrook said. "Studies had shown that the most economically and environmentally sustainable option was to withdraw maintenance from the primary, beach-side wall and raise the height of a secondary wall, known as the Coney Bank. This would protect the area known as the Minsmere levels, low-lying marshland between Dunwich heath and the Sizewell nuclear site - at least for 50 years. During the last two winters there has been considerable damage at the north end of the Minsmere site. The dunes have taken a battering and have been breached. It is a real pressure point. Our preferred option means we are working more in line with nature," Mr Barbrook said. Ian Barthorpe, RSPB spokesman, said: "We support the scheme. Our view is that while we'd like to protect valuable habitats where feasible we accept than within 20 years this wall is likely to go."

The RSPB was working with the Environment Agency to identify alternative sites. Removal of maintenance in front of the North Marsh would mean the habitat would change as a result of saltwater incursion. But it would still be of value to wildlife on a coast where good marshland habitat is increasingly scarce.

Aggregate Dredging and The Crown Estate - facts and figures

The Crown Estate published a report on 7th November revealing the levels of aggregate dredged from the seabed and the revenue resulting from this. In (SIC(2007): part of 08.12) it revealed that the production of sand and gravel by dredging offshore contributes more than 20% of the material used for construction in England and Wales and that there were 'substantial exports'. In addition dredging supplies material for beach nourishment and regular contract fill, e.g. the Cardiff Bay Barrage and the Sizewell B nuclear power station.

The report states that the UK has the largest offshore dredging industry in Europe and one of the biggest in the world. Almost all dredging is done under licence from The Crown Estate, to which, as the major seabed minerals owner, the royalties collected for dredging are around £14m per year. In 2006 the total dredged was 24.3 million tonnes of which 13.4 million was landed at wharves in England and Wales for processing and use as construction aggregate; 6.7 million was landed at wharves on Continental Europe for construction aggregate whilst 4.2 million was used for beach replenishment and contract fill.

Based on 2006 production there are two figures for turnover. For that landed at the wharf (assuming £6 per tonne; BMAPA communication) is £146m out of the dock gate, and after processing (assuming £12 per tonne) it is £293m.

Prices in Continental Europe are about 30% lower than in the UK, and the value of beach recharge will be significantly lower than for processed material. Assuming the beach material is unprocessed and that all other material is processed, weighting according to the landed volumes for 2006 gives an estimated of turnover of £242m.

The Gross Value added can be roughly estimated using the combined use matrix in the UK Input-Output Tables for 2004, for the whole sector, at 0.47 of turnover. Hence, gross value added is estimated as £114m. Exports, based on the above calculations assuming the processed price of £12 per tonne are estimated at £56m.

South Wales is uniquely dependent on marine-dredged sand which accounts for 93 per cent of the market for all construction sand and 97 per cent of building sand supply. There are currently no landings in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The report gives the trends and potential for future growth, and says that the supply of marine dredged sand and gravel for UK construction has been remarkably stable since the early 1970s. In most regions the annual volume landed is much less than the maximum allowed under the licence terms. Large construction projects in the South East can increase consumption (for example the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, and prospectively, the Thames Gateway port development). It further says that the demand for exports is expected to grow as Continental land supplies become exhausted.

On the demand for beach nourishment. it reports that material used varies from year to year depending on what projects are currently being undertaken. As Climate Change may increase the demand for protection against coastal flooding may in turn call for more soft engineered defences.

The principle user of UK landed sand and gravel is given as the construction industry, which gets about 21% of its sand and gravel supply in England and Wales from marine sources. In 2005, 79% of marine aggregate landings were used in the production of concrete and concreting products. Overall in 2004 31,000 people were employed in the manufacture of concrete products for construction purposes, and of ready-mix concrete. In 2005 the construction industry accounted for 6% (£63bn) of the total UK GDP.

Aggregates 2006

Crown Estate keen for wave and tidal power development

'The Engineer' website has an item showing the interest of The Crown Estate in developing wave and tidal power in Pentland Firth entitled 'Crowning Glory'. It tells how they would like to see 700MW of new offshore wave and tidal power stations developed at the site by 2020 and that the proposed area is said to contain six of the top 10 sites in the UK for tidal power development, central to meeting Scottish government green energy targets.

Dredging, Defence, the Dutch and UK Dithering

The North Norfolk News of 5th December '08 carries the following article telling of the lessons learned from a fact finding mission to The Netherlands comparing the Dutch restrictions on offshore aggregate dredging and protection from coastal erosion to those of Britain.

'Go Dutch' seen as coastal erosion answer

Coastal campaigners are urging officials to "go Dutch" and take a more positive attitude towards sea defences and compensation.
The call comes after a high-powered delegation went to the Netherlands to see how the low-lying neighbour across the North Sea tackles the problems shared with parts of the north Norfolk coast.

Local MP Norman Lamb, who chairs the all party parliamentary group on coastal and marine issues, said there was "a compelling logic" to applying the Dutch approach to the UK. And Coastal Concern Action Group co-ordinator Malcolm Kerby described the trip to Holland as "mind blowing". After an "illuminating and fascinating" meeting with government officials and scientists, Mr Lamb said the key differences were:

Mr Lamb said: "It was so stark how different the mindset is. One can understand how the approach has come to be different. A substantial amount of their population and economic engine is below sea level and their history has been dominated by the subject of land reclamation. But whatever the different culture and history, the overarching point is that the way they treat people in their communities is completely different and there are massive lessons to be learned from that."

Campaigners are battling against emerging government-led policies to resist sea defence funding in favour of evolving a more natural coastline, a reluctance to value the loss of properties and community, and failure to provide "social justice" through compensation. They have been heartened recently by a more positive approach to both defence and compensation from Lord Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency which controls the nation's coastline.

But Mr Kerby said getting the Dutch view at first hand had been "mind blowing". He added: "They looked at us quizzically when we asked about what legislation they base their compensation scheme on. It's simply de rigueur, the right thing to do. There is no need to resort to law. There is a tangible feeling of positivity over there, it's poles apart from this country. The difference is staggering."

Impending demise of Titchwell Bird Reserve

'RSPB to abandon sea defences', an article appearing in the Eastern Daily press of 1st December gives that RSPB officials have applied for planning permission to 'realign' the sea defences protecting their reserve from loss to the sea at Titchwell Marsh. (Please refer to our earlier news of this to be found under 'Abandoning the best of Norfolk to the Sea')

Despite sound advice from MARINET and Sustainable Coastlines on the means of saving the area the RSPB intend to go ahead with their own form of Managed Retreat in the assumed hope that this will serve to protect further inland freshwater lagoons.

Fears over Norfolk world heritage site listing

That's the title of an item in the Eastern Daily Press of 3rd December '08 written by Ed Foss. It tells how The Wash and North Norfolk Coast that aspired to a leading list of the most prestigious international heritage sites may be about to be reversed, as the government has raised a series of questions in a new consultation process, with concern raised about the exact value of the designation and whether such sites should be nominated.

A cost benefit analysis performed by Price WaterhouseCoopers has claimed that the status does not provide any additional statutory protection and that the benefits of tourism and regeneration have been overstated.

But for what it is worth, there is to be consultation on the proposal, which will run for 12 weeks until February 25. For this consulation document and for further information please log on to www.culture.gov.uk

Perhaps this is another round round of the government attempting to avoiding further come backs resulting from their 'Managed Retreat' policy of allowing such precious areas to be abandoned to sea? The North Norfolk Coast was first put forward in 1999 as one of 27 in the UK World Heritage Sites tentative list, the usual precursor to full designation.

Defra consulting on revision of Regulations governing Dredging in Harbours

Defra is revising the Regulations which govern the need for Environmental Impact Assessments on the dredging of material from harbours, and whether the Port of London Authority should be an appropriate authority for considering EIAs. This public consultation closes on 19th February 2009, and full details can be seen at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/marine-works/index.htm

Marine ALSF publish marine dredging research

The Marine ALSF has published the findings of over £4 million of research related to marine aggregate dredging for projects undertaken during FY2007/08 (administered by the MEPF and English Heritage) based on the proceedings of a two-day conference held in Essex in February 2008. The published document "Science Review 2008" also contains details of those projects commissioned by the Marine ALSF in FY08/09 under Round 3 of the Fund (2008-2011). Further details on the new projects will be available on this website shortly. An electronic version of this document can be downloaded.

Note: As the printed version of the Science Review also contains a CD of project presentations from the 2008 February Conference, those wishing for a copy of this CD should contact the MEPF Secretariat at secretariat@alsf-mepf.org.uk

Report of Finnish Coastal Environment Survey now available

The report of Finnish Environment Institute 21 international survey into the significance of ecological thresholds in coastal areas can now be seen as a PDF file.

"The results provide a reminder that the management of coastal areas is difficult because many fundamental concepts and issues are viewed and understood differently. The differences in the ways issues and problems are framed are likely to hamper management actions and create confusion, thus creating the conditions that most regard as unacceptable, i.e. the inability of societies to avoid the unwanted passing of ecological thresholds."

This may provide an important clue to the reason why campaigns meet with so much resistance, as the 'science' clearly is not nearly as objective in its assessments as we commonly assume.

Prof. Mikael Hildén and co-workers Jari Lyytimäki, Zelealem Aberra and Matti Lindholm thanks the 300 participants who responded.

Growing concerns over ocean acidification due to CO₂

Two recently published studies highlight the growing impact of ocean acidification - the lowering of the pH of seawater due to the increasing absorption of large amounts of carbon dioxide - in the Caribbean and the Southern Ocean.

A paper by scientists from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science) confirms significant ocean acidification across much of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

And a second paper by scientists from the University of New South Wales ( Australia ) and the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research and Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, concludes that the Southern Ocean will acidify past a critical tipping point when atmospheric CO₂ levels pass 450 ppm, projected to occur within 30 years at most.

At this point of aragonite undersaturation, the shells of sea creatures will start to dissolve. Previous estimates found that this dissolution point for shells in the Southern Ocean would occur after atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations reached 550 ppm, which is projected to occur in the latter part of the century.

Since the beginning of the industrial era, the oceans have absorbed about a third of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions released into the air - this has served as a carbon sink, and retarded some of the warming that otherwise would have occurred.

Atmospheric CO₂ reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid (H₂CO₃). Increasing the amount of CO₂ dissolved in the ocean lowers the pH, decreases the availability of carbonate (CO32-) ions, and lowers the saturation state of the major shell-forming carbonate minerals such as aragonite. Carbonate ions are building blocks for the calcium carbonate (e.g. aragonite, calcite) that many marine organisms use to grow their skeletons and create coral reef structures.

With increasing carbon dioxide in seawater, shellfish and corals cannot absorb enough calcium carbonate to build strong skeletons and shells. The greater acidity slows the growth and even dissolves ocean plant and animal shells.

Ocean acidification has been called the 'silent climate change issue' because it gets far less press than global warming, sea level rise and rainfall changes. Yet for marine systems, it could end up being the most important consequence of industrial pollution of all because it risks dissolving coral reefs and undermining the food chain upon which the world's fisheries and marine mammals depend.

Increasing Demand for Aggregate

The Construction Industry Research & Information Association (CIRIA) in the UK is in the process of fundraising to update its respected publication, the 1996 CIRIA Beach Management Manual (R153). An Environment Agency scoping study was completed in 2007 identifying a number of changes and additions to be made to the existing manual to increase its uptake and use. These included targeting beach managers who are increasingly non-engineers more involved with the amenity aspects of a beach rather than coastal defence.

Another of CIRIA's other works/projects include:
Beach recharge materials - demand and resources (R154)
Author(s): B Humphreys, T Coates, M Watkiss and D Harrison
Date: 1996
ISBN (13 digit): 978-0-86017-439-4
ISBN: 0-86017-439-5
Pages: 176
Publisher: CIRIA

Description:

There is increasing pressure on the UK's marine sand and gravel resources. Planning constraints are tending to restrict the extraction of sand and gravel resources on land, while the exploitation of marine resources in encouraged, subject to environmental safeguards. In addition to the demand for aggregates from the construction industry, there is an increasing demand for marine sand and gravel for beach recharge in coastal defence schemes. This report provides quantitative estimates of the national demand for beach recharge material and of the resources suitable to meet demand over the next 20 years. This information is presented regionally: for the south and east coasts, and the coasts of Wales and western England respectively. The results are of particular relevance in the determination of policy regarding coastal defence and minerals planning, and provide coastal authorities and engineers with information on the resource options for recharge materials. The report considers the potential for the use of beach recharge of materials other than marine sand and gravel, such as navigational dredgings. While some of these alternative materials may offer attractive local or opportunistic options, they are unlikely to satisfy the requirements of most major schemes.

Crown Estate Socio-Economic Report on Marine Aggregate Dredging

On 6th November 2008 the Crown Estate published a new report on the levels of marine dredging, the staffing of the industry and the financial contribution derived and resulting from the activity. Whilst we have reproduced that relating to the aggregates section, in full it can be seen here.

The production of sand and gravel by dredging offshore contributes more than 20% of the material used for construction in England and Wales. There are substantial exports. In addition dredging supplies material for beach nourishment and regular contract fill (for example Cardiff Bay Barrage, and Sizewell B nuclear power station).

Most processing takes place at the landing wharves. The UK has the largest offshore dredging industry in Europe and one of the biggest in the world. Almost all dredging is done under licence from The Crown Estate, which is the major seabed minerals owner: royalties collected for dredging are around £14m per year.

Turnover In 2006

The total dredged was 24.3 million tonnes of which 13.4 million was landed at wharves in England and Wales for use as construction aggregate; 6.7 million was landed at wharves on Continental Europe for construction aggregate; and 4.2 million was used for beach replenishment and contract fill. Based on 2006 production there are two figures for turnover.

Landed at the wharf

Assuming £6 per tonne; BMAPA communication is £146m; Out of the dock gate after processing (assuming £12 per tonne) is £293m. Prices in Continental Europe are about 30% lower than in the UK, and the value of beach recharge will be significantly lower than for processed material. Assuming the beach material is unprocessed and that all other material is processed, weighting according to the landed volumes for 2006 gives an estimated of turnover of £242m.

Gross Value Added

This can be roughly estimated using the combined use matrix in the UK Input-Output Tables for 2004, for the whole sector, at 0.47 of turnover. Hence, gross value added is estimated as £114m.

Exports

Based on the above calculations, assuming the processed £12 per tonne, these are estimated at £56m.

Numbers employed

The fleet of some 27 marine aggregate dredgers has about 475 staff and there is also 140 management staff. The wharves in the UK employ a further 500 people (140 on the Continent) for operations and processing. A further 544 are employed as UK hauliers delivering to the point of end use (160 on the Continent). Excluding the continental employees, the total is 1,670.

Activity by region

The main area of offshore sand and gravel landings is the South East Region. One third of the South East region' primary aggregate requirements come from marine sources. The 10 million tonnes landed in the South East represents 75% of total UK marine aggregate landings (13.4 million tonnes), and 40% of total UK marine aggregate production (24.8 million tonnes, including exports and beach/contract fill). Of the 68 wharves in England and Wales, 35 are in the Thames and at South East ports. A third of all UK construction takes place in the south east, where marine aggregate supplies are so significant. South Wales is uniquely dependent on marine-dredged sand which accounts for 93 per cent of the market for all construction sand and 97 per cent of building sand supply. There are currently no landings in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Trends and potential for future growth

The supply of marine dredged sand and gravel for UK construction has been remarkably stable since the early 1970s. See Figure 6. In most regions the annual volume landed is much less than the maximum allowed under the license terms. Large construction projects in the South East can increase consumption (for example the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, and prospectively, the Thames Gateway port development). Demand for exports is expected to grow as Continental land supplies become exhausted. Demand for beach nourishment material varies from year to year depending on what projects are currently being undertaken. Climate change may increase the demand for protection against coastal flooding, which in turn may call for more soft engineered defences.

Related impacts / consequences in the UK economy

The principle user of UK landed sand and gravel is the construction industry, which gets about 21% of its sand and gravel supply in England and Wales from marine sources. In 2005, 79% of marine aggregate landings were used in the production of concrete and concreting products. Overall in 2004 31,000 people were employed in the manufacture of concrete products for construction purposes,and of ready-mix concrete. In 2005 the construction industry accounted for 6% (£63bn) of the total UK GDP.

Sources

The British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (Mark Russell) www.bmapa.org
The Office for National Statistics, Annual Abstract of Statistics, Table 22.19
The strategic importance of the marine aggregate industry to the UK.
Report prepared for BMAPA by the British Geological Survey. 2007

One-third of UK beaches pose health risk to bathers

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has reported that more than one in three of Britain's beaches now pose a health risk for bathers because of water pollution. The MCS claim is made on the basis of bathing water monitoring data for 2008 released by Defra which shows that 35% (207) out of Britain's 587 officially designated beaches failed this year to meet the "Guideline Standard" of the EU Bathing Water Directive, 76/160/EEC.

As a result, MCS is renewing its call for an expansion of the sewer system to handle large volumes of storm water, for further action to improved Britain's combined sewer overflow network, and for a reduction in animal waste run-off from agricultural land.

Thomas Bell, MCS Coastal Pollution Officer, says "These latest results reflect a worrying trend toward worsening pollution of Britain's beaches. There was a high point in 2006 when 76% of beaches had good water quality, but long bouts of heavy rain over the last two summers have swept pollutants like farm fertilizer, street debris and animal waste directly from the land into rivers and the sea."

"The coast" Thomas Bell continues, "is also ringed by a network of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) which discharge a mixture of storm water and raw sewage into the sea whenever the sewers flood. MCS believes that this network needs significant new investment to reduce its pollution impact, as well as new measure to tackle storm run-off from farm-land and city streets." Thomas Bell also observes "Not all beaches are affected by this problem. The results show good standards on roughly two thirds of beaches, but coastal pollution has worsened markedly from a high point in 2006 and the problem for swimmers is knowing which beaches have suffered and when."

Defra study continues into marine disposal of contaminated dredge sediments

Defra has an ongoing study to develop a strategy to address contaminated sediment issues arising from proposed dredging for socioeconomic reasons (i.e. economic development). This study does not involve proposed remedial dredging of sediments deemed to pose a risk if left in place. The focus of the study is on disposal options. The project is not intended to provide a framework for evaluating, permitting and controlling the dredging of contaminated sediments but instead focuses on the disposal and or treatment of contaminated sediment.

The Defra study has six main tasks. Firstly, characterising the issue and delivering a national database of UK contaminated dredge marine sediments (CDMS). Secondly, exploring the liability and "polluter pays" issues, and thirdly, identifying the existing relevant legislative and regulatory barriers in this regard. Fourthly, exploring the methods currently being used to prevent sediment becoming contaminated in the first place, and fifthly, establishing the current best practice for disposal and treatment options for those sediments that are contaminated. And sixthly, identifying the future R&D needs related to CDMS.

The first 18 months of the study, it is claimed, have been involved with the building of a database of contaminated dredge marine sediments, and the project from now on will be consulting stakeholders, end-user-groups and commercial industry.

Sizewell site's flooding 'danger'

The following article is from the East Anglian Times of 22nd November 2008 but is unfortunately not available on-line.

Campaign group issues formal reply to Government consultation

The unstable nature of the East Anglia coast and the danger of flooding make the Sizewell site unsuitable for a further nuclear power station, according to a campaign group in its formal response to a Government consultation.

The Shut Down Sizewell Campaign suggests that there is a high level of concern about the vulnerability of the nuclear site to attack by the North Sea. It claims that dredging operations off the region's coast are increasing the risk by aggravating coastal erosion.

A twin reactor Sizewell C - costing £6billion - is being planned and is likely to be the first of a series of new nuclear plants. The other shortlisted sites are at Bradwell, Essex, Hinkley Point, Somerset and Dungerness, Kent.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has issued its assessment of the criteria which will be used to judge the suitability of sites for new nuclear power station planned to replace old generation plant and as part of the UK response to global warming. It suggests that the risk of floods, tidal surges and coastal erosion will not be primary considerations.

Peter Lanyon, who has responded to the Government consultation on behalf of the Shut Down Sizewell Campaign, claims that Met Office predictions about sea level rise are not in tune with the latest findings of the International Panel on Climate Change.

"For these reasons it is clearly inappropriate to site nuclear stations that will be vulnerable for well over a hundred years anywhere near an eroding coastline. So flooding, tsunamis, storm damage and coastal processes should be exclusionary criteria and they should automatically rule out Sizewell as a possible site," Mr Lanyon states in his letter to BERR.

British Energy has commissioned a report from consultants which suggests that the Sizewell C site can be protected from increased flood risk by engineering means. The company believes there is no climate change reason not to go ahead with the building of new nuclear power stations. The plants need to be near the coast because of the demand for large volumes of cooling water.

World Conference on marine biodiversity recognises the importance of Marine Reserves

The first World Conference on marine biodiversity organised by marine scientists was held in Valencia, Spain, 11th to 15th November 2008.

The Conference resulted in the Valencia Declaration and observed that despite wide concern over the health of marine systems and of global fisheries, less than one percent of the oceans are currently afforded protection.

The scientists believe that marine protected areas (MPAs) are a powerful tool to sustain the viability of marine biodiversity. Existing studies indicate that networks of well-managed MPAs can make ecosystems more resilient to external threats like eutrophication or climate change, can protect valuable habitats, and can support species that use these habitats for feeding or breeding.

The conference concluded that there is overwhelming scientific evidence that marine biodiversity and marine ecosystems are essential to the functioning of our biosphere and hence to human well-being, and found that the pace and scale of human-caused changes occurring in the oceans and the impact of these changes on marine biodiversity and ecosystems are cause for grave concern.

The scientists are of the firm belief that when effectively designed, managed and enforced, marine protected areas can deliver many ecological and socio-economic benefits. To be effective, networks of marine protected areas must be ecologically coherent and should be an essential part of ocean management plans.

A warning was also given that geo-engineering of the oceans to mitigate climate change may deliver negative impacts to marine ecosystems.

An important observation was made that deep sea ecosystems differ significantly from coastal ones, with the dynamics of most deep-sea fish stocks being very fragile and slow to recover once damaged. Therefore they should be approached with an exceptionally high degree of precaution.

Consequently, the Conference urged that ecologically coherent networks of marine protected areas throughout the oceans be developed at an urgent and accelerated pace using existing scientific data and understanding, and that research efforts to improve understanding of marine biodiversity be enhanced in order to provide the knowledge necessary to underpin adaptive management.

Defra publishes guide to marine licensing under the Marine Bill

The booklet published by Defra, titled "Managing our marine resources - licensing under the Marine Bill" explains the changes the UK Government are proposing to make to the marine licensing and enforcement systems through the Marine Bill, and how these changes will work in practice.
For further details, see here.

Peter Boggis versus Environment Agency

The ongoing battle between Peter Boggis and the Environment Agency has been reported regularly in our website pages in the past. (See 'Unusual winds and groyne problems for cliff man' item from the Lowestoft Journal of 15th September 2007 placed under our archives on the MARINET website.)

The issue has now reached the High Court. Radio, TV, the Eastern Daily Press as well as national newspapers are all carrying the news. Under the heading 'Modern 'Canute' fights the sea - and the law - to save home' the story was in The Independent of Thursday 20th November '08.

The result of this case will be eagerly awaited by the many who hope to save their homes and businesses and living due to the threat imposed by failure to defend many areas from erosion and flooding because of the governments 'Managed Retreat' a.k.a. 'Making Room for Water' policy. The outcome will not be known until just after Christmas as Judgement is reserved. Then hopefully a much hoped for Christmas present will arrive.

The High Court case is being capably fought by MARINET member Lawyer Peter Scott, who has kindly provided MARINET with a copy of the grounds of the challenge in detail. As judgement is reserved, it would best be that it did not appear on our website, but, as many in a similar situation to Peter Boggis might well wish to see it, MARINET can send a copy of the grounds of challenge to those who request it by an e-mail sent to pat.gowen@ntlworld.com providing their e-mail address.

Peter is doing what the Environment Agency should be doing, that is defending people, their property and their livelihood, as happens in some of the more civilised countries of this world. As it is, the EA do not oppose offshore dredging, the main cause of the erosion, and the government have done very little in meaningful terms to counter the sea rise brought about by ever rising carbon dioxide emmissions. The case rests here.

UK Bathing Water Quality worse in 2008

Recent results published by Defra and the Environment Agency for bathing water quality in 2008 show that the mandatory quality standard (the legally enforceable standard) was, according to Defra, met by 95.8% of UK beaches in 2008 compared to 96.5% in 2007.

In respect of the guideline standard (not legally enforceable, but a recommended standard for beaches and their bathing waters) Defra claim that 63.9% of UK beaches met this standard in 2008 compared to 70.8% in 2007.

When considering England alone, Defra assert that 398 out of the 414 English beaches met the mandatory standard. Thus, 16 English bathing waters failed the mandatory standard. Defra commented "Exceptionally wet weather in July, August and September has resulted in the slightly lower standard of the water this year. Ten of the 16 failing bathing waters are in the South West, which was hit hard by heavy rainfall during the summer."

Heavy or persistent rainfall means that sewers become overloaded, and thus have to make emergency discharges of untreated sewage either direct to sea in the case of coastal areas, or into rivers for inland areas. Contaminated inland rivers eventually discharge their pollutant load to sea.

Full results for individual beaches and bathing waters, including Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, can be viewed at the Defra website.

MARINET observes that the Government's claim that 95.8% of UK beaches have met the mandatory standard in 2008 is misleading. This is because the monitoring has failed to test for the presence of salmonella and enteroviruses at virtually all bathing waters in the UK. This monitoring is a mandatory requirement if there is evidence of sewage being present. Given that only 63.9% of UK bathing waters passed the guideline standard in 2008 (due to the presence of sewage), there is obviously a need for the proven absence of salmonella and enteroviruses to be monitored. MARINET believes that the UK Government is in breach of the Bathing Water Regulations for failing to monitor for salmonella and enteroviruses in most UK bathing waters.

The types of pathogens present in sea water as a result of sewage discharges are numerous. The testing regime to comply with the mandatory standard of the EC Bathing Water Directive, 76/160/EEC, requires testing for salmonella and enteroviruses, and requires that none are present. The types of pathogens that this sampling is looking for and the diseases they can cause are as follows:-

1) Bacterial Pathogens

2) Viral Pathogens

Reference:- Memoranda from Pat Gowen, Norwich & Broadland Friends of the Earth to the House of Commons 1997-98 Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee on 'Sewage Treatment and Disposal', pages 179 - 188, published 28th October 1997.Stationary Office, London, HC266-III.

3) Parasites

Accordingly, MARINET believes that there is a clear need for the salmonella and enterovirus monitoring to occur in UK bathing waters. Claims by the UK Government that UK bathing waters are clean and safe, and that nearly 96% comply with the mandatory standard, must therefore be viewed with some caution.

Using Defra's methods (i.e. excluding salmonella and enterovirus monitoring), the bathing waters in England that failed the mandatory standard in 2008 were:

Defra claims that bathing water quality has improved over the past decade. Therefore we reproduce here the figures published by Defra in this context, firstly in respect of the mandatory standard, and then in respect of the guideline standard (Note: these figure do not include monitoring for salmonella and enteroviruses).

The table below shows percentage compliance with the mandatory standards for total and faecal coliforms in England only and in the UK over the last decade.

The table below shows percentage compliance with the guideline standards for total coliforms, faecal coliforms, and faecal streptococci in England only and in the UK over the last decade.

Another nature reserve condemned to the sea

In an article entitled 'Area of nature reserve to be surrendered to the sea' the Eastern Daily Press of 19th November reports that on top of the the precious Holme, Cley and Salthouse Wildlife Sites, the 60 acre Minsmere nature reserve is to be consigned to the sea, as the Environment Agency consider it not to be financially viable to defend.

Call for a ban on the shooting of seals by Scottish salmon producers

Following the recent announcement by the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University, Scotland, that seal populations in Scottish waters are in a serious unexplained decline (See the following article for more information on the decline in British seal populations), the Seal Protection Action Group (www.sealaction.org) is calling for an immediate and comprehensive ban on the killing of seals by Scottish salmon producers and other fisheries interests in Scotland and the United Kingdom.

Andy Ottaway, Seal Protection Action Group, says "In March of last year the Scottish Executive introduced an emergency conservation order [ The Conservation of Seals (Scotland) Order 2007 SSI/2007/126 ] for common seals in Shetland, Orkney and an area of the east coast of Scotland between Stonehaven and Dunbar, 'to offer additional protection to a sensitive and potentially vulnerable common seal population in these three areas following recent reductions in common seal numbers there'. Unfortunately this conservation order does not preclude the shooting of seals in the name of fisheries protection."

"At present", says Andy Ottaway, "both common and grey seals are managed under the Conservation of Seals Act (1970). However, this outdated legislation effectively provides no protection against shooting except during the breeding seasons or in areas with year round conservation orders. Even in these cases there are still provisions which mean seals can be legally shot. In particular, the shooting of seals by the aquaculture industry is totally unjustified. We believe it is perfectly possible to protect farmed fish and equipment by non-lethal means, such as properly tensioned nets and other measures. In addition, there is no scientific evidence that shooting individual seals that happen to be observed close to a fish farm can provide any reliable protection against predator damage."

"It is likely" continues Andy Ottaway, "that thousands of seals are shot in Scottish waters each year and yet there is no legal requirement to record the numbers killed. Although shooting has not been implicated as a primary cause for the alarming decline in common seals, and there is certainly evidence of environmental change from warming waters, we believe that deliberate killing has played its part, can only exacerbate the situation and must be stopped, at least as a precautionary measure."

Dramatic unexplained decline in British seal populations

Common seal, phoca vitulina. Photograph: Rex Features

Scientists at the Sea Mammals Research Unit at St Andrew's University, Scotland, have warned of significant and serious changes in the seas around Britain after detecting a steep and "frightening" fall in the numbers of common seals around the coast. In the worst affected areas, such as the Orkney islands, the numbers of common seals are falling by 10% a year, and have dropped by as much as half in the past six years. Along the Argyll coast, from Oban to the Mull of Kintyre, the numbers fell by a quarter last year.

Ian Boyd, a professor with the Sea Mammals Research Unit, said it was as if the entire population had stopped breeding and that the cause was baffling scientists. "We just don't know," he said. "Our collective view is that there's some large-scale process going on in the northern North Sea which is driving down seal numbers. We're seeing a massive decline. It's quite a frightening decline because these populations don't change as quickly as that under normal circumstances. This is very abnormal. To give you an idea of the level of abnormality, the rates of decline are equivalent to these populations producing no offspring for five or six years."

The steep declines mirrors other crises in the marine environment. Biologists have reported plummeting sea bird populations, with falls of a third in numbers of puffins on the Farne islands off the Northumberland coast, and the Isle of May at the Firth of Forth, as well as declines in food sources for mammals and birds, such as sand eels. At the same time, warmer-water animals from plankton through to large fish are moving north.

Ian Boyd said it was too early to say whether climate change was directly connected to the collapse of seal populations. He said his unit and other marine biologists were investigating a number of possibilities, including the theory that common seals - also known as harbour seals - were up against stiff competition from the larger, more robust grey seals for increasingly scarce food supplies. Some studies suggested that killer whales, now hunting in larger numbers around Orkney and Shetland, were killing seals at pupping time. People could be illegally shooting the seals in fish-farming areas and at inshore fishing grounds. But Boyd said these problems were localised and could not explain the UK-wide declines. The causes, he believed, were likely to be complex.

The latest figures show that last year common seal numbers fell from 4,256 to 3,379 in Orkney, from 1,056 to 800 along the eastern coast of the northern Highlands, from 113 to 102 in the north-east, in Grampian, and from 6,702 to 4,732 on the west coast from Oban to the Mull of Kintyre. There was also a fall, from 445 to 215, in Fife, and by nearly half in the smaller populations around Lothian and Dumfries and Galloway.

In English waters, smaller populations at the nature reserves at Blakeney Point, in Norfolk, and Donna Nook, in Lincolnshire, also fell sharply. Some areas have shown increases, particularly the Wash, where numbers rose from 1,695 to 2,162 last year. But total numbers across the UK fell by 12% last year at the 13 sites where counts were made over two years - down by 3,120 animals to 23,277, a drop that early figures suggest has continued this year.

Ian Boyd said that, by contrast, there had been "rapid growth" in the nearest population on the continent, in the Wadden Sea, off the Dutch, German and Danish coasts. "We ought to be worried because these animals are at the top of the marine food chain and are in a sense bellwethers of what's going on in the marine environment," he said. "Quite apart from the fact that they're charismatic species, they're indicators of the level of robustness that there is within the marine environment, and if we're seeing populations declining rapidly like this, it's got to ring alarm bells."

Eurosion Paper on Essex Estuarial Erosion

Distinct from the 29th October 2005 EUROSION Report (at www.marinet.org.uk/mad/scientificstudies.html#eep) which the powers that be attempted to delete that content showing the North Norfolk Coast erosion being due to Offshore Aggregate Dredging, another EUROSION report has recently been unearthed by Maike of Coastal Essex FoE g.petri@telinco.co.uk

This relates to the serious ongoing estuarial coastal loss of Essex, and (among other contributors) shows that offshore dredging is implicated in the loss of sediment supply, hence the erosion. See paper here.

Wave Power takes a step ahead

The Eastern Daily Press of 8th November '08 published the following item by Victoria Nicholls describing the forthcoming installation test of a Trident wavepower generator off the Suffolk Coast.

view of trident generator standing on the quayside

The revolutionary wave power machine

Wave power machine unveiled in Southwold

The inventor of an electricity generator which will harness wave power off the Southwold coast unveiled his model yesterday. And if it proves its worth the Trident generator could lead the way for projects like it around Britain's coastline.

The generator will be moored five miles offshore from early next year for trials. Floats, which move up and down with the waves, will drive generators which convert the motion into electricity, which is piped via sub-sea cables onshore and linked to the national grid. The Trident generator, the first of its kind ever to be built, will be left in the North Sea initially for three months, before it is converted into a full-size model.

Its inventor Hugh-Peter Kelly said: "Wave energy has been neglected. It is the hardest but most rewarding form of renewable energy. Forty percent of our entire national energy needs for electricity can come from harnessing wave power around the UK."

Trident Energy, which is based in Southend, commissioned marine engineers Small & Co in, Lowestoft to build the framework rig, which is in the final stages of construction.

Energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt, who visited the rig before opening of the Orbis Energy centre at Ness Point, said: "I think it's a very exciting project by Trident. It has great potential for developing experts and developing much more renewable energy. The test will be to scale it up."

Hull asks for an investigation into Offshore Dredging

The Hull and East Riding Mail reported on November 3rd under 'Calls for investigation into coastal erosion' the following item.

A fresh call will be made for the Government to carry out an investigation into whether offshore dredging has contributed to large losses of land on the East Riding coast. In the past year, unprecedented chunks of cliff measuring almost three times the length of a double-decker bus have disappeared into the sea.

East Riding Council wrote to the Government requesting an independent study into whether offshore dredging is a factor in the high rates of erosion.
However, officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) say a series of studies have already been carried out and no link was made between the erosion and dredging. Monitoring of the region's coastal erosion has shown 89ft (27m) sections of land have vanished to the north and south of Withernsea.

East Riding Council have invited new Environment Agency chairman, Lord Smith of Finsbury, to see first hand the effects of coastal erosion and to ask for a research study to be commissioned.

According to the latest figures, 4.48 million tons of aggregates were dredged from the Humber region in the past year. Dredging takes place in a number of areas, including sites near Easington and Spurn Point.

A Defra spokesman said: "All dredging applications are rigorously assessed for any adverse effects and for potential contribution to erosion. There is no evidence that authorised aggregate dredging has had any impact on the coast."

Derek Crook lost his home in Seaside Lane, Tunstall, near Withernsea, to coastal erosion last year and now lives in a caravan yards from the cliff edge. The 68-year-old said: "I do believe dredging has a big impact on coastal erosion. It is not allowed on the continent and it seems crackers we allow this to go on around our coast.

Help from Europe?

In an article entitled "Bid for EU flood zone funding" the Lowestoft Journal of 3rd November reports a bid to secure European funding to protect homes and land around a north Suffolk estuary which has attracted the support of decision-makers in the flood risk zone.

UK Government grants aggregate dredging licence for Area 481 on the east coast

The Government has granted an aggregate dredging licence for Area 481, known as Inner Dowsing. Hardly a surprise really, as they always grant such applications regardless of evidence and reasons as to why they should not.

Opposition came from numerous sources. The King's Lynn Vessel Owners and Skippers Association noted that this site, 21 km off the Lincolnshire and Norfolk Coast, is adjacent to an extensively fished area. Concern was expressed that aggregate dredging and wind farms in this area are squeezing inshore fishermen out of their traditional fishing grounds. Natural England and the RSPB also raised a concern that the dredging site is a foraging area for the seabird, the sandwich tern, and that the dredging site is close to the North Norfolk Special Protection Area which supports around one-quarter of the UK population of this seabird. Then there's the fact that the sediment flow across The Wash to our Norfolk beaches would be further reduced by retention and capture by the dredgers.

Despite this, United Marine Dredging Ltd has successfully managed to secure a new licence to extract 7.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel from the seabed over the next 15 years, this subject to a review after 5 and 10 years.

United Marine Dredging Ltd has commented by letter on our news item above about Area 481. We reproduce here their letter of 18th November 2008.

Pat Gowen comments: "Thank you, Nick, for drawing our attention to your concern on the 'Latest News' item placed on our MARINET website "UK Government grants aggregate dredging licence for Area 481 on the east coast"
Your points are valid, but we were referring to the original concerns expressed by those bodies detailed. Your letter indicates that these were later allayed.
From a personal perspective, I would add that my own main concern is the impact that this dredge will have upon (what little remains of) the sediment flow across The Wash, and the effect that this further reduction could have upon our seriously eroding East Anglian beaches, dunes, sand cliffs etc. But that is another matter.
Frankly, until we can see some independent long term post dredging empirical studies on the transport of coastal sand and gravel to the lowered dredged seabed areas, by means of labelled particles strewn along the coastline then sought in the landed aggregate, I must remain convinced by the evidence of my own eyes and findings in the demise of our coastline following massive cumulative offshore aggregate dredging."

New licence for E. Anglian Agggregate Dredging site being considered

Hanson Marine Aggregates Ltd (HAML) has employed the consultancy, Marine Ecological Surveys Ltd (MES), to explore with interested parties what their views are if a licence extension to extract a further 4.5 million tonnes of aggregate over 15 years were to be sought by HAML for Area 202, known as Cross Sands, when the current licence expires on 1st July 2010. Area 202 is located 7 km off the East Anglian coast in the Great Yarmouth block of licences.

MARINET has responded to this consultation and has explained to the consultant, MES, that there are a number of important unanswered questions surrounding the current licence to dredge Area 202, and these need to be resolved before any new licence can be considered.

Shipping required to meet stronger emissions standards

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has unanimously adopted amendments to the MARPOL Annex VI Regulations which will require a substantial reduction in certain harmful emissions from ships, although environmentalists have criticised the IMO decision from failing to address the need for reductions in carbon dioxide by shipping.

The main changes to MARPOL Annex VI will see a progressive reduction in sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships, with the global sulphur cap reduced initially to 3.50% (from the current 4.50%), effective from 1st January 2012; then progressively to 0.50 %, effective from 1st January 2020, subject to a feasibility review to be completed no later than 2018.

Progressive reductions in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from marine engines were also agreed, with the most stringent controls on so-called "Tier III" engines, i.e. those installed on ships constructed on or after 1st January 2016, operating in Emission Control Areas.

Environmental NGOs have welcomed this decision by the International Maritime Organisation to require substantial reductions in the sulphur content of marine fuel from 2020. But the groups condemned the continued failure of the IMO to agree on measures to combat greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping.

Bill Hemmings from Transport & Environment (T&E) said, "despite this welcome move, global shipping fuels will still be 500 times more polluting than road fuels. That's not good enough for Europe, with its bad air quality and dense population. We expect Europe to make the best use of the new ECA provisions, and apply the strictest fuel limits in all its sea areas."

Bill Hemmings also commented: "The IMO has clearly failed once again to seriously address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Having been tasked by Kyoto to adopt a sectoral approach nearly 10 years ago, the last decade has been wasted with inaction. IMO's belated efforts are too little, too late. It's now up to the EU to take the lead on tackling emissions from the sector."

Carbon Trust joins major research project into Offshore Wind

The Carbon Trust has signed a ground-breaking agreement in offshore wind with five international energy companies: DONG Energy (Denmark), Airtricity Developments (UK), RWE Innogy (Germany), ScottishPower Renewables (UK) and StatoilHydro (Norway). This marks the start of a major new research, development and demonstration initiative called the Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA).

Worth up to £30m over the next five years, the OWA aim is to cut the cost of offshore wind energy by 10 per cent or more through a combination of wind farm cost reductions and performance improvements.

Offshore wind has the greatest potential of all renewable energy technologies to deliver the UK's 2020 renewable energy targets but delivering this potential will be a significant challenge. This new initiative is therefore designed to help tackle one of the key barriers to offshore wind deployment - the rising costs of projects - which have more than doubled over the last five years. It will do this by taking up key opportunities in technology development in a collaborative approach which shares the associated costs and risks.

Mark Williamson, Director of Innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: "Offshore wind has huge potential to cut the UK's carbon emissions, generate thousands of new jobs and help us meet our 2020 renewable targets. But high costs and risks have been seriously holding back deployment. We've identified a range of opportunities to reduce costs, increase performance and improve the economic viability of offshore wind farms. This new collaborative initiative brings together five leading energy companies to encourage technology innovation and significantly accelerate growth in the sector at this crucial time."

The Offshore Wind Accelerator will focus on cost and risk reduction in the short to medium term, covering key topics related to wind farm design, construction and operation, including:

Notes: The Carbon Trust is an independent company set up by the UK Government in response to the threat of climate change in order to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions, and to develop commercial low carbon technologies. The Carbon Trust says that it works with UK business and the public sector via its work in five complementary areas: insights, solutions, innovations, enterprises and investments. Together these help to explain, deliver, develop, create and finance low carbon enterprise. The Carbon Trust is funded by Government.

DONG Energy is one of Northern Europe's leading energy groups. They are headquartered in Denmark. Their business is based on procuring, producing, distributing, trading and selling energy and related products in Northern Europe. The company delivered revenue of DKK 41.6 billion in 2007 (approx. EUR 5.6 billion or USD 8.3 billion). DONG Energy has more than 5,000 employees. For further information, see www.dongenergy.com

Airtricity Developments (UK) is the renewable energy development division of Scottish and Southern Energy. The company has responsibility for the development of onshore and offshore wind farms in the UK, Ireland, Europe and Asia as well as developing hydro and marine projects. The company is currently developing two of the worlds larger wind farms, a 504 MW Offshore wind farm called Greater Gabbardwhich is located off the Suffolk coast of England, and a 456MW onshore wind farm called Clyde which is located in the Upper Clyde Valley in Scotland. Airtricity was acquired by Scottish and Southern Energy in February 2008 and the combined Airtricity / SSE team has developed 40 wind farms across Europe and North America resulting in over 1500MW, making it a leading wind farm developer. The company says that its goal is to protect the future of our planet by delivering renewable energy with passion, innovation and integrity.

RWE Innogy was created in February 2008. It is the Europe-wide renewables business of the RWE group, bringing together the renewables parts of existing RWE companies and with ambitious expansion plans. It will invest at least 1 bn Euros every year. Npower renewables is the UK branch of RWE Innogy.

StatoilHydro is an integrated technology-based international energy company primarily focused on upstream oil and gas operations. Headquartered in Norway, it has more than 30 years of experience from the Norwegian continental shelf, pioneering complex offshore projects under the toughest conditions. The company says its culture is founded on strong values and a high ethical standard. It aims to deliver long-term growth and to continue to develop technologies and manage projects that will meet the world's energy and climate challenges in a sustainable way. StatoilHydro is listed on NYSE and Oslo Stock Exchange.

ScottishPower Renewables is the UK's largest onshore windfarm developer and recently received consent for its first offshore project in partnership with DONG Energy and Eurus Energy. ScottishPower Renewables is currently building Europe's largest windfarm, 322MW, on Eaglesham Moor near Glasgow and has recently announced plans for the world's largest tidal renewable projects. For further information, see www.scottishpowerrenewables.com

UK Claims World Leadership in Offshore Wind

The UK has overtaken Denmark to become the world's number one for wind farms built offshore, with 597MW fully constructed. The achievement has been made possible after building work finished at Centrica's Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms near Skegness.

Offshore wind farms now have the potential to power the equivalent of around 300,000 UK homes. This follows the Prime Minister's recent announcement at the British Wind Energy Association's conference that the UK now gets 3 gigawatts of electricity from wind power.

Mike O'Brien, Minister of State at the new Department of Energy and Climate Change made the announcement about the UK's number one position whilst visiting the wind farms off the coast of Skegness on 21st October. Mike O'Brien said: "As the Prime Minister himself said this morning, we are now getting 3 gigawatts of our electricity capacity from wind power. That's enough to power more than 1.5 million homes. Offshore wind makes up 20% of that capacity and the wind farms I am visiting today are the ones that have made the UK the world's number one for offshore wind power, knocking Denmark off the top spot."

"Offshore wind is hugely important to help realise the Government's ambition to dramatically increase the amount of energy from renewable sources. Overtaking Denmark is just the start. There are already five more offshore wind farms under construction that will add a further 938 megawatts to our total by the end of next year. We are also assessing plans to increase the total by a massive 25 gigawatts in the future. That's enough electricity for every home in the country."

"This will ultimately help in the fight against climate change and further secure the UK's energy supplies - two of the goals of the new Department of Energy and Climate Change."
Mike O'Brien also announced that consent has been granted to Centrica to build the 250MW Lincs offshore wind farm next to Centrica's Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms near Skegness.

The UK wind farms built offshore total 597.8MW, Denmark's total 423MW (source: Danish Wind Energy Association).

In January 2009 the Government will publish for consultation a Strategic Environmental Assessment of its plan to further expand offshore wind in the UK by up to 25GW, with a decision due in Spring 2009 on the acceptable level of development.
Further information is available on http://www.offshoresea.org. The Crown Estate, landlord of the seabed, launched its Round 3 competition for new offshore wind development rights on 29 September 2008, with awards due to be made following the Government's decision next year.

Friends of the Earth urges caution over UK offshore renewables claim

Commenting on the statement by the UK Government (21st October 2008) that the UK is the world's biggest developer of offshore wind and the announcement of a major programme to accelerate the development of offshore wind farms, Friends of the Earth's renewable energy campaigner, Nick Rau said:

"It's great news that the UK is now leading the world in off-shore wind power - but we're still near the bottom of the European league table for harnessing renewable energy."

"The Government must stop trying to wriggle out of European green energy targets and put a massive effort into making renewable power the number one source of energy in the UK. The UK has one of the biggest renewable energy potentials in Europe - this must be harnessed to make this country a world leader in tackling climate change. This will help cut emissions, create hundreds of thousands of jobs and secure a clean, safe energy supply - leading Britain to a cleaner and more prosperous future."

The European Council is expected to decide its position on the EU Renewable Directive soon. The Directive will commit Europe to generating 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The UK will have to generate 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by this date, but Friends of the Earth believes that the UK has attempted to introduce a series of 'compromise amendments' - like excluding aviation - which would weaken the Directive.

Friends of the Earth believes that UK proposals for amending the Renewable Energy Directive have also included giving credit for capture and storage projects; allowing unfinished projects in the UK (e.g. Severn Barrage) and investments outside the UK to count towards the UK's target; making intermediate targets non-binding; and allowing aviation to be excluded altogether - which could allow Member States to wriggle out of their commitments.

Norman Lamb MP calls for a 'single strong voice' over erosion

Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk and Chairman of an all-party coastal and marine group of MPs, is calling for coastal communities across the country to unite in a single strong voice as they battle for Whitehall help to fight erosion problems. He has pointed out that it is unfair that such communities are facing the brunt of picking up the bill for the impact of climate change - when the whole nation is responsible for causing it.

Under the governments controversial government Shoreline Management Plan nearly 1,000 homes, 1,400 caravan and chalet parks, six hotels and guest houses, seven historic buildings, 3.5km of road, seven golf course holes and three community halls would be among the property lost to the sea over the next 100 years. On top of this £100m price tag, another £357m of tourist income would be lost - all to save £41m worth of sea defence spending says a report for North Norfolk District Council, which is fighting to get the SMP changed including compensating people affected.

Lord Smith meets SCAR

The Chairman of the Environment Agency met with the Suffolk campaigners fighting for their coastline, and appeared to provide a modicum of reassurance, further indicating a one third rise in funding. The whole story appears in the East Anglian Daily times of 29th October '08 under 'Sea defences to be saved where possible'.

BBC 'Look East' filmed the event and interviewed members of 'SCAR', the Suffolk locals fighting for justice item on the issue. The film can be viewed here.

'SCAR', 'Suffolk Coast Against Retreat' is now busy building it's website, but in the meantime has its content on the Alde and Ore website to be found at www.aldeandore.net

New Environment Agency Chairman to be lobbied by SCAR Suffolk Coast Campaigners

On 28th October 'Let us protect the coast for 20 years' appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times, telling how SCAR, 'Suffolk Coast Against Retreat', coastal campaigners intend to lobby Lord Smith the new Environment Agency Chairman who is visiting the area and tell him that they want coastal protection and the means of accomplishing this.

The National Trust says the South West coastline is at risk from climate change

Almost 200 miles of some of the most precious stretches of south-west England's coastline are threatened by rising sea levels, says The National Trust. Fabulous beaches and cliffs, harbours and buildings are in danger. At least 142 scheduled ancient monuments, 111 listed buildings and one historic garden lie within a "risk zone". More than 100 miles of public rights of way have already been lost, or could be soon.

The claims are made in Shifting Shores, a report published by the National Trust, which warns that 173 miles of the coastline that it cares for in south-west England could be lost or damaged. Amongst the world-famous sites in danger is St Michael's Mount, the island off Penzance in Cornwall. The Trust says the causeway which is used to cross to the site at low tide may be lost within 45 years.

A boathouse at Agatha Christie's summer house in Devon could be gone within 15 years, while there are fears that salt water will soon spill into the lagoon at Brownsea Island in Dorset, which would mean the end of a crucial habitat for migrating birds. Not far away, the Trust is looking at spending almost £4m on moving the visitor facilities at Studland in Dorset back from the crumbling coast. The National Trust, which looks after 450 miles of coastline in the south-west, admits it is already too late for some sites.

To highlight its concerns the Trust has published a list of 21 sites it believes are at risk. The 13 on the "high risk" list include many of south-west England's favourite destinations. Among them is Westbury Court Garden in Gloucestershire, a rare and beautiful example of a Dutch water garden dating back to the 17th century. The report also suggests that in some areas, good can come out of rising sea levels. At Porlock Bay in Somerset, the breaching of a shingle bar resulted in the development of a new area of salt marsh. It concludes it is necessary to plan at least 50 years ahead. In many cases people, businesses and habitats will have to be relocated.

Fishermen mapping Salcombe Estuary in Devon for vulnerable species

Brixham fisheries officers and South Hams fishermen have been taking part in a new seabed mapping project. The Salcombe estuary, rich in many marine species, was chosen as one of two trial zones in the UK by the Seafish Industry Authority which is keen to pinpoint vulnerable species.

Seafish (the Seafish Industry Authority) are trialling the Basic Seabed Habitat Mapping system in order to find the type and location of habitats, with the support of photographic or video recording and a sketch map of the site. It will help with future management, and reduce the impact of destructive fishing methods such as heavy scallop dredges. With back-up from scientists, the team has been generating valuable information on the seabed of the marine nature reserve at Salcombe which is also a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.

South Hams fishermen Kevin Oakman of V Pimpernell II and Matt Yeoman of Ann have been working closely with the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee. Mr Oakman said: "There is a lot of local interest in this area about the effect scallop fishing has on the seabed and, in particular, on sensitive habitats. The video footage we collected is very timely. It has given us and the SFC a much better understanding of the seabed in advance of the winter scallop fishery."

Seafish spokesman Mark Gray said: "This is only the start. The seabed mapping guidance is part of a toolkit we are developing to help the industry reduce the environmental impact of fishing and show it can be compatible with marine nature conservation interests. Video survey data is a key part of these trials in Devon and Sussex. Crucial information is provided that will be used in mapping habitats, that not only support their target species but also act as spawning and nursery areas."

Rare beach insect survives "Napoli" disaster

One of the UK's rarest insects has been found after going missing on a Devon beach where debris from the grounded cargo ship MSC Napoli was washed up on Branscombe beach which was littered with the ship's containers and their contents after the Napoli was beached in January 2007.

The National Trust was concerned for the survival of the scaly cricket, which is found at only three UK sites. "This rediscovery has come as a real relief and it is likely a healthy population of scaly crickets can still be found on Branscombe beach," National Trust property manager for Dartmoor, Adrian Colston said. "They are notoriously difficult to find and their location away from the main site of the Napoli activity certainly helped increase the likelihood that they would survive."

Normally found in the Mediterranean, the scaly cricket was first discovered at Branscombe in 1998. The nocturnal insect measures between 8mm (0.3in) and 13mm (0.5in) and feeds on general waste. It is also found at Chesil beach in Dorset and Marloe Sands in Pembrokeshire.
For further details, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7649776.stm

Further promotion of coastal flooding by the EA - a step too far?

Increasingly intent on bringing about the further demise of our coast, the EA are now contracting out for the actual breaching of sea defences rather than just letting them go through time.

Sand and Gravel News on line under 'Contracts & Tenders' October 21st, 2008 show that the EA are offering a £2,400,000 contract under their 'Managed Retreat' policy to deliberately breach the existing flood embankment sea defences and remove the topsoil at Cliffe Marshes on the North Kent coast prior to the construction of a further inland flood wall.

MARINET on TV-West

The ITV-West news program dealing with dredging induced erosion along the south-west coast featuring Stephen Eades can be seen by visiting here. The relevant part starts at approximately 4 minutes in the second part.

Study of how CO₂ absorbed into oceans is affecting marine life

The first comprehensive study by the United States of how carbon dioxide emissions absorbed into the oceans may be altering fisheries, marine mammals, coral reefs and other natural resources has been commissioned by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US National Science Foundation.

Since the beginning of the industrial era, the oceans have absorbed about a third of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions released into the air. The ability of the oceans to absorb carbon dioxide emissions has reduced some of the harmful effects of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and on land. But scientists are finding that the continued increased absorption of these gases is altering the biology and chemistry of oceans in fundamental ways.

Absorption of large amounts of carbon dioxide alters the chemistry of the oceans by reducing the pH of seawater. With increasing carbon dioxide in seawater, shellfish and corals cannot absorb enough calcium carbonate to build strong skeletons and shells. The greater acidity slows the growth and even dissolves ocean plant and animal shells. The decline of these valuable species would drastically harm fisheries.

Any decline of these species would also have profound effects on entire ecosystems where shellfish and crustaceans provide food for many other species and coral provides habitat for fish. The effects of ocean acidification will potentially extend to coral reefs, marine plankton, other animals and plants.

Natural England produces undersea landscape maps as educational tool

Natural England has produced a national undersea landscape map along with a series of regional undersea landscape maps for use as an educational tool.

These maps describe the underwater landscape and the distinctive places for wildlife, and provide illustrations of the creatures who live there.

The enlarged map for the East shows the movement of the offshore sand and shingle, a fact long denied by the dredgers and their apologists.

Europe's first artificial surf reef is being built at Bournemouth

Europe's first artificial surf reef is currently being built in Boscombe, Bournemouth this year and is set to put Bournemouth firmly on the UK surf map. The surf reef will act as a ramp, pushing waves upwards, doubling their size and improving their quality for surfers. As a result, the number of good surfing days will be doubled. The reef will also enhance water sports on offer including kite-surfing, windsurfing, wake-boarding, kayaking, SCUBA-diving, sailing and skim-boarding. It is also expected to be provide habitat marine life such as crabs, lobsters, squid and various species of fish.

For further details, visit BBC Radio4 "Open Country" broadcast on 18th October 2008 or visit the A1 Surf website at www.a1surf.com

You can have your sea defences - if you pay for 'em!

Referring the EA's abandonment of flood defences protecting thousands of acres of farmland, 20 homes and the A12 Ipswich to Lowestoft Road (all around the Blyth Estuary near Southwold) on 18th October EA regional director Paul Woodcock kindly announced that villagers living nearby could be shown how to help themselves when there is no money available to repair the flood banks.

Government completes consultation on "High Level Objectives" for marine management

In preparation for the introduction and subsequent implementation of the Marine Bill, the UK Government has just completed a public consultation on the "high level marine objectives" which should inform and direct the Government's thinking on the key management principles for UK seas. As might be imagined, central to these is sustainable development. In addition, the Government want to see an "ecosystems approach" to marine management.

The Wildlife and Countryside Link, (www.wcl.org.uk) which represents a wide range of marine NGOs, state in their response to this public consultation that they would like the term "sustainable marine development" which the Government uses in its consultation document to be re-phrased as "sustainable development of the marine environment/area". WCL also want the Government to use a broader definition of the "ecosystems approach" to marine management based on the definition devised by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Namely, a definition which incorporates the following three elements: "sustainable use", "equitable sharing of benefits" and "conservation". At the present time the Government's definition, WCL believes, does not place adequate emphasis on the "conservation" element. Also, WCL believe that the "ecosystems approach" must include the concept of "recovery" in order to ensure that adequate management attention is given to marine ecosystems which have been damaged by past activities.

New Minister takes charge of the UK Marine Bill

Following the latest Government reshuffle, Huw Irranca-Davies MP has replaced Jonathan Shaw MP as the Minister of State at Defra in charge of the Marine Bill.

Huw Irranca-Davies has given a speech on 8th October 2008 to the Local Government Association and its Information Unit which outlines the Government's current thinking and approach to the Marine Bill.

The Government is planning to introduce the Bill in the new Session of Parliament, which begins in December, and believes that the Marine Management Organisation, which will deliver many of the Government's policies with regard to marine planning and licensing, will be operational by 2010. The new Minister's speech explains the Government's current thinking but, unfortunately, says nothing about the ecosystem-based approach to marine management or the network of marine reserves which MARINET believes are the fundamental tools which the government must develop seriously and urgently if we are to get fisheries and marine biodiversity back onto a sound basis throughout UK seas.

New Coastal Erosion Sensing Technology

This story, sent to us by Jerry Berne of Sustainable Coastlines, comes from the latest (Oct. 13-26) 'The Engineer 'magazine. This UK developed methodology will detect and transmit erosion data both at the shoreline and deep on the seabed. It is to be hoped that this will be deployed in order to provide conclusive evidence of the movement and destination of our beach, dunes and sand cliffs where intensive and cumulative offshore dredging has been permitted..

Coast guard

UK collaboration develops technology that could save lives by gathering and wirelessly transmitting coastal erosion data from beneath the sea. Siobhan Wagner reports

A NEW sensor communication system that directly transmits data from underwater sensors to shoreline bases claims to monitor more closely the effects climate change has on coastal erosion. The technology is the result of an 18-month UK industry and academic collaboration. Sensors on the seabed around the UK's coastline would gather data such as temperature, pH levels and sediment movement. This information would be fed to an underwater radio modem that transmits the data wirelessly to an onshore radio modem connected to a PC.

The backbone of the technology comes from project partner Wireless Fibre Systems (WFS) a Scots developer of underwater electronic communications, sensing and navigation technology. The company's underwater radio modem uses a magnetic loop antenna capable of generating an electromagnetic field of under 9kHz. The data is encoded in the magnetic component detected by a second sensitive receiver loop. The signal is enhanced with digital signal processing.

Ian Crowther, general manager of environmental and industrial division at WFS, said one of his company's underwater broadband modems has been proven to transmit signals at speeds of 1Mb/sec. 'There is no content that is restricted,' he said. 'It can transmit voice, data or video.' Crowther added that these signals penetrate both water and air and operate in both shallow and deep water. For monitoring coastal erosion, the sensors need to be up to 200m from shore.

The project has received about £450,000 from the Technology Strategy Board and will be managed by the School of Applied Computing at Swansea Metropolitan University. Valeport, a UK hydrometric and oceanographic instrumentation manufacturer, is the other partner in the initiative. The collaboration hopes to develop a technology that will, for the first time, gather and wirelessly transmit data related to coastal erosion from beneath the sea in real-time.

'It hasn't been done before because there has been no technology available that can transmit data from beneath the sea back to shore - not wirelessly anyway,' said Crowther. Previous systems could only relay data back using either a buoy on the ocean surface or a cable running from the underwater installation to the shore. Crowther added: 'No-one has been very successful at getting two-way communications, but by applying novel digital signal processing techniques and new antenna designs to existing science we have been able to increase the data rate and establish two-way communications with our system.'

The information gathered will support decision-making on coastline management around the world. Coastal erosion is caused by the impact of waves and small particles of rock and sediment wearing away the land. According to recent research at London's International Institute for Environment and Development, one person in 10 worldwide lives less than 10m above sea-level and near the coast.

Current scientific data suggests that climate change will continue to cause rising sea levels and speed up beach erosion. Crowther and his colleagues believe potentially disastrous situations could be avoided with better monitoring of what is happening below the sea. He said much of today's information about coastal erosion is gathered from aerial photographs. 'With our underwater system you will be able to understand things such as sediment movement from the sea bed which you can't get from aerial photography,' he said.

WFS has recently won contracts to use its technology in the defence and offshore oil and gas industries.

UK Government responds to Parliament's criticism of draft Marine Bill

The UK Government (Defra) has published its response to the changes to the draft Marine Bill recommended by the Joint Committee of the House of Commons and the House of Lords following public hearings by the Joint Committee in June and July. MARINET submitted written evidence to this Committee but was not granted an oral hearing, (see www.marinet.org.uk/marinebill.html#mswe). MARINET's comments on the recommendations of the Joint Committee and the response of the UK Government are as follows.

In its recommendations to the UK Government, the Joint Committee of Parliament has shown sympathy for the far-reaching change to the Bill proposed by MARINET. Namely, MARINET's proposal that "there should be a duty on the Secretary of State to create an ecologically coherent network of highly protected marine reserves covering at least 30% of UK seas out to 200 nautical miles by 2015". Many aspects of MARINET's proposal were incorporated into the Joint Committee's recommendations. However the UK Government has yielded little ground in its response to the Joint Committee and its recommendations.

Even the most apparent concession to the Joint Committee by the Government, (ref. para 3.4.1:) "We therefore propose to confer a statutory duty on the Secretary of State [MARINET editor: our emphasis] and Welsh Ministers to designate Marine Conservation Zones in order to contribute to an ecologically coherent network of sites which will include highly protected sites" is not entirely what it seems.

This concession, MARINET observes, is largely empty because the term "an ecologically coherent network" remains undefined in the draft legislation. Therefore, this vitally important management tool can be interpreted to mean anything by the Government. In addition, the size of this network remains undefined in the draft legislation, so the "statutory duty to create an ecologically coherent network of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs)" can also mean whatever the Government likes - a duty to create ten reserves, one hundred reserves or whatever figure is considered expedient. It is difficult not to conclude, therefore, that the Government's concession has a hollow ring to it.

Furthermore, the agreement to create "highly protected" marine reserves is equally unquantified. MARINET believes that highly protected reserves (where all human activity is prohibited) is the key management tool that can deliver the recovery of our fish stocks and restore marine biodiversity. Substantial areas of the sea (at least 30%) must be set aside for this purpose, and be used as a commercial tool as much as an environmental tool. The UK Government has failed to understand or embrace this approach to marine management. In other words, the Government's policy on "highly protected" marine reserves looks rather unconvincing.

Evidence for a loss of nerve by the Government is further evidenced by its refusal to set a target for the size of the ecologically coherent network (Marine Protected Area - MPA), (ref. para 3.4.2:) "We consider it too early to predict the size or shape of the MPA network which will be needed, and therefore we do not propose to include a prescribed figure on the face of the draft Bill. We will only know what proportion of the seas will require designation as MCZs, and with what levels of protection, after further detailed work is undertaken, with the full involvement of stakeholders."

Is the Government unaware, MARINET observes, of the recommendation (www.rcep.org.uk/fisheries/Chapter8.pdf) by the Government's own the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in 2004 that 30% of the sea should be set aside as highly protected no-take reserves? And is the Government unaware that 300 senior European marine scientists have called for (www.marinet.org.uk/latestnews.html#jcop) the same level of protection?

The UK Government claims that it is not prevaricating, and that it has responded to the Joint Committee of Parliament by stating that it is serious about designating a substantial area of the sea for active management by means of marine reserves, (ref. para 3.4.8:) "We therefore propose to place a duty on Ministers to submit a report to Parliament . . . . on progress made in developing the network of MPAs and on progress towards achieving the conservation objectives of MCZs which have been designated as part of the network, in 2012 and at least every six years thereafter."

However MARINET asks whether this claimed commitment to creating a substantial ecologically coherent network of reserves is credible? Is a Report every six years the same as actually doing the job and creating the network? Is Parliament simply going to told every six years that progress is slow, and everything is just too difficult? MARINET is not convinced by this approach and fears that, in these intervening six year periods, our commercial fish stocks will become extinct (as in Newfoundland, Canada) and that marine biodiversity will continue in steep decline. The UK Government already has all the scientific evidence it needs. What it lacks, MARINET believes, is the will to act.

Yet despite the stand-offish position displayed by the UK Government to seriously taking up the challenge to use highly protected marine reserves between now and 2015 as the key management tool in the restoration of UK fisheries and marine biodiversity, MARINET believes that there is a glimmer of hope in the Government's response to the Joint Committee's report.

The Government states (ref. para 3.5.14:) "The legislative framework for the CFP (EU Common Fisheries Policy) is due to be reviewed in 2012 and by the end of 2011 the Commission is required to present to the Council and Parliament (EU Council of Ministers and EU Parliament) a report on access arrangements, after which the Council will decide what provisions will thereafter apply. In advance of this review, where we wish to protect an MCZ (Marine Conservation Zone) in an area where foreign vessels have access, we will look to do so through the CFP to ensure equal application of measures to all vessels."

MARINET understands this to mean, firstly, that the Common Fisheries Policy will be reviewed and revised in 2012, and secondly, that the UK Government will argue for the exclusion of foreign fishing activity from marine reserves (MCZs). If this happens, then MARINET's case that highly protected marine reserves can be used as a key management tool to regenerate fish stocks and marine biodiversity could, if the UK Government is bold enough, be argued for by the UK before the EU Commission and all the other EU member countries. In other words, real conservation policies and real management for our seas could be on the agenda.

MARINET is further emboldened in this belief by the EU's established regulatory policy on fisheries conservation, as stated in Council Regulation (EC) No. 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy see www.marinet.org.uk/marinebill.html#ugrt

MARINET observes that Article 4.2.g which deals with the types of conservation measures which member states can take under Council Regulation 2371/2002 records (ref. para ii): "Adopting technical measures, including - zones and/or periods in which fishing activities are prohibited or restricted including for the protection of spawning and nursery areas" and (ref. para iv): "specific measures to reduce the impact of fishing activities on marine eco-systems and non target species."

Accordingly, MARINET believes that the UK Government has a mixture of UK sovereign powers and EU powers which enable it to establish an ecologically coherent network of highly protected marine reserves for the purpose of managing the eco-system of our seas as a whole, including fisheries, and thus we can implement such a network covering at least 30% of UK seas out to 200 nautical miles by 2015. All that is required is a UK Government which shares this belief, and is prepared to so act in the best interest of the UK's marine environment.

Thus, the key question now is - do we have such a Government in the UK? When the Marine Bill comes before Parliament in December of this year (2008) we shall learn the answer to this question. And, we shall also learn the answer to the question as to whether Her Majesty's Opposition Parties in Parliament share a belief similar to MARINET's. Some interesting questions and answers lie ahead.

Saltmarshes in the Solent under long-term threat

At a recent meeting of the Solent Protection Society where the importance and value of saltmarshes for biodiversity and coastal defence in the Solent estuary, Hampshire, was emphasised by speakers from Natural England and the Environment Agency, it was also predicted by the Channel Coastal Observatory (www.channelcoast.org/southeast) that saltmarshes are likely to disappear from parts of the Solent within 30 to 50 years.

A report of this meeting of the Solent Protection Society can be seen on the MARINET website here

Arctic summer sea ice recorded at second-lowest extent during 2008

The National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), University of Colorado, which monitors sea ice extent in the Arctic says that despite cooler temperatures and ice-favouring condition this summer, the long-term decline continues, see Press Release

The magenta line shows the median ice extent for September from 1979 to 2000

The NSIDC says that the 2008 season strongly reinforces the thirty-year downward trend in Arctic ice extent. The 2008 September low was 34% below the long-term average from 1979 to 2000 and only 9% greater than the 2007 record. NSIDC Senior Scientist Mark Serreze said, "When you look at the sharp decline that we've seen over the past thirty years, a 'recovery' from lowest to second lowest is no recovery at all. Both within and beyond the Arctic, the implications of the decline are enormous", and NSIDC Research Scientist Julienne Stroeve said, "I find it incredible that we came so close to beating the 2007 record - without the especially warm and clear conditions we saw last summer. I hate to think what 2008 might have looked like if weather patterns had set up in a more extreme way."

For a full listing of press resources concerning Arctic sea ice, including previous press releases and quick facts about why and how scientists study sea ice, visit http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews

The growing hazard at Sizewell

Readers will be aware from our past items of the erosive threat to the Sizewell 'A' and 'B' nuclear power station, especially now that a further proposal to dredge even more aggregate much closer to the shoreline is under consideration.

The following clip is from 'New Scientist' written over fifteen years ago, accompanying a highly myopic penning on 'Managed Retreat' by Fred Pearce, who should have known better. But it shows you how insanity has grown even further since then.

MARINET wonders if the new French owners of Sizewell are aware of the hazard. The remote shareholders, i.e. the French government, are unlikely to know this. The awareness could change their mind !.

From issue 1854 of New Scientist magazine, 02 January 1993, page 23. 'Nuclear plants at the water's edge'

A Government guidance note on coastal planning, issued in September, says that new building developments away from existing urban areas should not in general be allowed on coasts threatened by erosion. But, all along Britain's coasts there are thousands of structures that would not have been built if this guidance had been in force at the time, and some are still being proposed.

Among them are several nuclear power stations. At Sizewell in Suffolk, the Sizewell B station is nearing completion next door to Sizewell A. The government-owned Nuclear Electric says it wants to build another station, Sizewell C, on the same site. 'You wonder,' says Andrew St Joseph, 'about the wisdom of building two or three nuclear stations at Sizewell, on a shifting spit that is likely to erode over the coming decades.'

Nuclear Electric claims that Sizewell is safe from inundation by the sea. But Paul Hatchwell, an environment consultant, wrote recently in a report for the World Wide Fund for Nature that both the Sizewell site and the Bradwell nuclear power plant in Essex, built on marshes by the Blackwater estuary, are 'poorly defended'.

The two Dungeness nuclear power stations on Romney Marsh in Kent are on a gravel spit. He says 18 of Britain's nuclear power plants are on land liable to flooding and dependent on local flood defences.

Aggregate dredging off East Anglia to be assessed

The aggregate dredging licences offshore from East Anglia are to be assessed for their environmental impact by means of a Regional Environmental Assessment (REA). The study is being designed at the moment by the consultants, Emu Ltd, who are working for the Anglian Offshore Dredging Association (AODA) which consists of Hanson Aggregates Marine Ltd, United Marine Dredging, Volker Dredging Ltd and Sea Aggregates Ltd. The REA should be completed by 2009.

Emu Ltd is currently drawing up a Scoping Study for this REA, see their website at www.anglian-marea.org, and is asking for interested parties and people to submit their thoughts on what this REA should consider and assess. If you wish to submit views, visit their website.

MARINET has informed Emu Ltd and AODA that it is essential that the REA incorporates a tracer study to establish where sand taken by tides from the beaches ends up. Also, the REA must include an up to date wave regime model (waves arriving on the coast cause erosion) which tests whether aggregate dredging is contributing to erosion, and part of this study into the wave regime must also assess the changes that have occurred to offshore sandbanks since aggregate extraction commenced. If offshore sandbanks have altered (i.e. their height has declined) then the wave regime will have been altered. It is known that one of the principal offshore sandbanks, Scroby Sands, has changed significantly during the period in question and the nature of this change and its causes needs to be carefully evaluated. Also, the REA must examine the changes in marine biodiversity during the period, particularly with regard to fisheries and marine biodiversity on the seabed.

New Coastal Defence Structure Idea

Jerry Berne of Sustainable Coastlines (www.sustainableshorelines.org) spotted this item entitled 'Cloaking the Coast' in the 3rd October issue of The Engineer Online. It has been sent on to our EA Coastal Engineer for consideration.

Mathematicians at Liverpool University, working with physicists at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Aix-Marseille University, have designed and tested a new structure that could reduce the risk of large water waves overtopping coastal defences. The new structure is cylindrical and consists of rigid pillars that guide water along concentric corridors. The pillars interact with the water, guiding it in different directions along the corridors and increasing its speed as it nears the centre of the structure - similar to a whirlpool.

'Coastal defences have to withstand great forces and there is always a risk of water overtopping or penetrating these structures. Water crashes against these defences, breaking the wave and causing a lot of damage to property hidden behind them,' said Sebastien Guenneau, from Liverpool University's Department of Mathematical Science.

What is unique about the new structure is its interaction with the water, guiding it to a particular destination, rather than breaking it up and sending it everywhere. It is as though the defences are invisible to the wave, and as such it does not recognise the structure as an obstacle.

'We now need to investigate how to replicate this effect in a real-life situation to protect land from natural disasters such as tsunamis, and defend other structures such as oil rigs in the ocean,' added Guenneau.

Study looks at effects of dredging

That's the title of an article by Hayley Mace in the Eastern Daily Press of 7th October 2008. It tells how the Anglian Offshore Dredging Association (AODA) are to investigate the effects of dredging off the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts on fishing and coastal erosion by a major year-long scientific study supported by the MFA. The environmental study will be examined before any decision about the new site is made.

Robert Langman, AODA's coordinator, said that the environment impact assessment for the East Anglian coastline has just started. He said: "Although each individual environmental impact assessment has considered all the regional impacts in the past, this is the first time the potential impacts of offshore dredging and the cumulative impacts it may have with other sea users have been studied at a regional level in this area. We hope our pro-active approach will help manage this workload."

New fears for Suffolk coast

The 7th October 2008 East Anglian Daily Times hosts a story by Richard Smith telling how large numbers of homes and businesses on the Suffolk coast around Aldeburgh and Orford could be lost if the Environment Agency decides to abandon sea and river defences. The Alde and Orr Association estimates the economic value of the Alde and Ore estuary to be at least £25million annually. This excludes the value of crops and the gross output of £7m of 10 key employers. They point out that at peak times the Lower Alde area can account for up to 50% of the nation's potato production and that the loss of jobs in the agricultural industry if farmland surrounding the Alde and Ore were lost and salinated would have a major effect on local employment.

EU takes important green step forward to reform the Common Fisheries Policy

The EU Council of Ministers has announced, following a recent meeting in Brussels on 29/30th September, that the "eco-system approach" is an important principle which should inform the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which is scheduled for 2012, and the EU Ministers have declared that they recognise that healthy ecosystems are essential for the sustainable exploitation of marine resources.

In response to this statement, the EU Commission has declared that "An economically, socially and environmentally healthy fishing industry depends on healthy fish stocks and on the fishing fleets being in balance with their fishing opportunities. Ecological sustainability is therefore fundamental."

The Commission intends to table a Green Paper in early 2009 which will provide the basis for a public debate. A summary of the consultation will be published in early 2010, and the Commission will aim to table reform proposals later in the same year, with a view to their coming into force in 2012.

MARINET is arguing strongly for the UK Government and its EU partners to develop a policy where no-take marine reserves are used as a key management tool in the regeneration of commercial fish stocks, many of which are currently being exploited beyond safe biological limits and thus could face commercial extinction.

This recent development in the thinking of the EU Ministers and Commission is welcome, in MARINET's opinion, and suggests that the EU is beginning to get a grip on reality. In fact, Council Regulation (EC) 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy (view here) already gives the CFP powers to create "zones and/or periods in which fishing activities are prohibited or restricted including for the protection of spawning and nursery areas" and "specific measures to reduce the impact of fishing activities on marine eco-systems and non target species" (ref Article 4, section 2, para ii and iv). Therefore MARINET will be following closely how the forthcoming review of the CFP develops.

At the moment, the UK Government in its forthcoming Marine Bill (due to be published in December) is pleading that it can do nothing to control unsustainable fishing practices beyond the 12 nautical miles territorial limit because of the CFP. In MARINET's opinion, the UK Government is running away from the issue and does not appreciate the powers of intervention which the UK and other EU members actually possess. Greater political determination is required, see MARINET's submission to the UK Government.

PowerBuoy Wave Energy

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) announced late September that it has deployed the first of ten PowerBuoys about 4 km off the coast of Spain at Santoña in 50 metres of water. This project is in partnership with Iberdrola S.A, one of the world's largest renewable energy companies. www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/spain.htm

The system has been trialled in Hawaii (for US Navy) and in Atlantic City, New Jersey (public utility) since 2005.

The PB40 PowerBuoy is the first unit for the world's first commercial utility-scale wave power generation, aimed at supplying about 1.4 MW to Spain's electricity grid.

Mark R. Draper, Chief Operating Officer of OPT, said: "This deployment is of great significance to OPT and the wave power industry, demonstrating the commercial potential of our leading technology after a decade of in-ocean experience. We would like to thank our partners, especially Iberdrola and the Spanish authorities, for their outstanding support to this project. We now look forward to the first supplies of electricity to the grid and the expansion of the wave power station."

PowerBuoys have a design life of 30 years with standard maintenance recommended every three to four years. The project includes a subsea power transmission cable and underwater substation and grid connection. As well as installing the hardware, OPT is contracted for operations and maintenance of the wave power station for up to 10 years.

The PB40 steelwork was fabricated by a local supplier in Santander, Spain, and the power take-off and control system was built at OPT's facility in New Jersey, USA. The final integration and testing of the complete PowerBuoy was also conducted in Spain. The PowerBuoy is 7 metres in diameter at the sea surface, 20 metres in length and weighs approximately 60 tonnes.

Abandoning Suffolk beaches and defences - or a reprieve?

The following item by Alasdair McGregor in the EDP of 1st October '08 outlines the severe threat now facing the coastline of North Suffolk as offshore dredging continues to wreak its demand from the shoreline and offshore banks. Already erosion is very serious and noticeably escalating, yet the worst of the North Sea Surges and strong eroding northerly winds have yet to arrive. February could see severe and irreversible damage resulting, unless some of the considerable income derived from dredging royalties and taxes is diverted to meaningful protection.
The cost of the loss of tourist income, unemployment produced and loss of infrastructure that will result in this already economically deprived and high unemployment area is vastly more than the savings made by refusing funds for defence or even the income dervied from the sand and gravel supply which will result from the coastal loss.

£2m to 'shore up' Lowestoft defences

The growing threat to Lowestoft's coastal defences was laid bare last night after it emerged £2m must be found to carry out vital repairs along the main beach, while a nearby sea wall is in danger of collapse within weeks. Sea defence managers are set to apply to the Environment Agency for the funding to carry out work on the town's showpiece south beach, but have admitted defences at nearby Corton are falling apart and will have to be abandoned. Meanwhile, a stretch of beach at North Denes has been closed where erosion has exposed the remnants of previous defences, which now pose a major danger to beach users.

With an annual sea defence budget of just £350,000, Waveney District Council is having to battle for national funding with coastal communities across the country. The plan to seek £2m for work on the south beach, opposite Royal Green, was hatched because of the huge number of tourists it attracts and the number of businesses based there. The council wants to carry out repairs to the foundations of the flint sea wall, built more than 100 years ago, and construct new groynes to help improve beach levels, which have been dramatically reduced in recent years.

However, just a few miles along the coast at Corton, council officers are preparing to put up barriers to stop people walking on the southern section of sea wall that runs northwards towards Hopton because erosion could see it collapse as soon as this winter. The neighbouring timber breastwork, which protects the cliffs from Corton village to the Broadland Sands Holiday Park, is also falling apart and the decision has been taken not to invest any more in its maintenance.

Paul Patterson, who is in charge of sea defences in Waveney, said: "The northern part of Lowestoft south beach is suffering scour that has reduced the amenity value of the area and also placed at risk ageing defences that protect the promenade and tourist facilities from erosion." Work to improve the most vulnerable section of the wall took place last winter and a study is being carried out in preparation for the major project, which is scheduled to take place during the winter of 2009/10.

While the Kelling to Lowestoft Ness Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) says the defences along the south beach and North Denes should be maintained, it says there is no economic justification to carry on work at Corton. Mr Patterson added: "The most significant erosion pressure is being felt from Lowestoft Ness northwards to the county boundary north of Corton village." The new barriers on the sea wall will have gates to allow public access to the wall until officers decide it is too dangerous.

Last year, the EDP reported how villagers in Corton felt abandoned by the SMP, which says new defences completed in 2005 at a cost of £3.5m will not be replaced when they reach the end of their lifespan in 20 to 30 years. Forecasts showed that 40 buildings could be lost on the seaward side of Corton Road and The Street by 2055 and, by 2105, a further 60 properties could be claimed by the sea. While the state of some defences in Corton is critical, Waveney District Council is promoting a joint study with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to explore opportunities to manage crumbling defences.

Ken Sale, the council's portfolio holder for the environment, said: "Tourism is the lifeblood of Waveney and Lowestoft beach is one of the best. As politicians all we can do is carry on lobbying the government to get more funding, but you can just put a concrete wall around the whole of the country."

Protecting Coastal Wildlife from the Sea-Defence upheaval

Ed Foss writes in the 29th September '08 Eastern Daily Press this item on some measures being taken to attempt to safeguard the wildlife when disturbance from heavy engineering takes place on the wilder parts of the Norfolk Coast.

Moves to save seals from coast work

Efforts to protect seals, their pups, little terns and ringed plovers will be among the ecological measures taken during sea defence work on the north Norfolk coast, which is due to start next month.

As reported in the EDP last week, Environment Agency contractors will bring in 30,000 tonnes of sea defence rock by barge to the coast at Eccles and Horsey and dredge 280,000 cubic metres of sand to recharge the beaches at Sea Palling and Waxham. The news of the major, multi-million-pound operation raised concerns among those who know the stretch of coast well - particularly in connection with a well-known colony of seals often seen hauled up on the beach around Horsey.

Chris Barton, from Knapton, contacted the EDP and said he had specific concerns about the breeding colony, which was entering the time of year when pups were born. But the seal issue is just one of several matters involving both wildlife and safety to people which the Environment Agency has said will be taken into account by a series of mitigation measures.

An exclusion area for part of the project which will see recycling of old rock into repaired groynes will be set up around the ruins of St Mary's Church, which used to stand in the village of Eccles but was finally claimed by the sea when it toppled in 1895.

The beach recharge project was launched in the mid-1990s as part of a wider scheme which saw nine granite offshore reefs built at Sea Palling and Waxham to protect the Broads - resulting in altered patterns of longshore drift and the starvation of sand supplies to beaches to the south of the reefs. The recharging was controversially shelved in 2005 after Defra withdrew Environment Agency funding. That funding has now been made available again.

The rock will be used to build ten groynes between Horsey Ness and Winterton Ness Gap to replace failed timber or rock groynes. Surplus rock buried under the beach will also be excavated for reuse, while a 275-metre stretch of rock revetment at Eccles will be reconstructed.

Ongoing debate on Norfolk's Coastal Erosion

With equinoxial gales and the North Sea surge season close upon us, the coastal defence situation and the unacceptable demands of 'Managed Retreat' continue. This item is from the 'Eastern Daily Press' of 30th September '08

Coastal erosion studies awaited

Coastal engineers are continuing to make do and mend along north Norfolk's eroding shoreline while government officials wrestle with the larger national picture including the possibility of compensation.

A local council official, who is a leading figure in a nationwide think tank on erosion impact, says some major studies around Britain's coast should help identify places at risk and its value. But Peter Frew, head of coastal strategy at North Norfolk District Council, said any plans for compensation still had to leap the hurdle of getting treasury funding.

It would need to be "sound, properly controlled and not a blank cheque," added Mr Frew, but he was "satisfied we have a reasonable chance of sorting something out." His comments come after the latest "adaptation toolkit" workshop at the government's environment department, which - despite ministerial hints that people losing their sea defences under policy changes should get compensation - has yet to explain how they would be helped. "We are still looking for clarity, and are struggling to work out what it means," said Mr Frew. He was heartened by moves to stop areas at threat from being hit by blight, and increased involvement of regional development and transport agencies because of the wider possible impacts of erosion, such as the loss of roads.

A Defra erosion risk survey, due out in the spring, should give a nationwide picture of potential losses, while another project was seeking to evaluate the properties affected. In the meantime North Norfolk was continuing to defend where it could. This month a £250,000 sea walls and cliff path scheme due will start at Overstrand. Another £50,000-£80,000 will be spent at Sheringham or Walcott, and 400 tonnes of "spare" rock from the imminent Horsey defences upgrade will be used at the most appropriate place at the time it became available.

Fishermen's concern on new DEFRA catch limits

Fishermen fear for their livelihoods by Richard Parr, EDP, 2nd October '08

Fishermen along the North Norfolk coast believe their livelihoods could be under threat if proposed changes to fishing regulations come into force. North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb is calling for urgent talks with the government's fisheries minister Jonathan Shaw after he was approached by local inshore fishermen from Wells, Sheringham and Cromer. Mr Lamb said: "I am horrified at the prospect of the fishing fleet at Wells and along the North Norfolk coast being decimated by these proposed changes."

The changes, being proposed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are currently subject to a public consultation period which ends tomorrow. The concerns have been highlighted by Robin Harris who has fished out of Wells for the past six years. He claims the changes proposed will affect the under 10 metre class of fishing vessel which makes up the vast majority of the Wells fleet.

The new regulations, if introduced, would impose a 300 kg annual limit for a licence holder fishing for skate, rays, cod and sole. This limit would apply unless 300 kg of the specified species had been caught during the qualifying period of October 2006 to January 2008.

The issue for the Wells fishermen is that most of them will be unable to prove they have caught the necessary quota during this period because they have been primarily catching crab and lobster. Most of the North Norfolk inshore fishermen alternate their catch from year to year based on supply and the proposed changes to licensing regulations would inhibit fishermen from fishing certain species in the future.

Cromer fisherman John Davies said that the proposed changes threaten their livelihoods. "The only way an inshore fisherman will be able to survive is by being flexible and it is this flexibility that is at risk," said Mr Davies, who is also coxswain of Cromer lifeboat. An inshore fisherman needs to be flexible in what he can catch otherwise a certain amount of his livelihood will be taken away. A Defra spokesman said: "It is still at the proposal stage and people can still express their comments."

Felixstowe Update

The latest Felixstowe TV films of the sea defence strategy there can now be seen by going here and here.

An East Anglian Daily Times video showing the devastation of Felixstowe's North Beach can be seen by visiting 'What has happened to famous beach?'

Green Party to challenge new East Anglian offshore aggregate dredging licences

Cllr. Rupert Read, Norwich, the Green Party lead candidate for Eastern Region in 2009 Euro-elections, has announced that the Green Party will be challenging the new aggregate dredging licences being sought by AODA, the Anglian Offshore Dredging Association consisting of CEMEX UK Marine, Hanson Aggregates Marine, United Marine Dredging, Volker Dredging Ltd. and Sea Aggregates Ltd.

The new licences involve a large extension to Area 495B, which lies east of the existing dredging area located offshore between Gt. Yarmouth and Lowestoft. And a new area, Area 496, which is some ten times the area already being dredged at the existing site off Southwold. Area 496 is located to the west of the existing dredging ground, and is less than half the distance from the shoreline as the existing dredge site.

In a Press Release dated 24th September the Green Party state "In Holland, the world experts on coastline protection have a ban on dredging for aggregates closer than 25km to the shore. Yet here in England, we allow dredging to take place way closer than that. If this application is granted, it will be criminally irresponsible, at a time when man-made climate change is threatening in any case to raise sea levels and is already worsening winter storms."

"I intend" says Cllr. Rupert Read, "to ask a set of awkward questions of the dredgers; if they cannot adequately reply, then they owe it to the people of East Anglia to withdraw their application and take a more sensible, precautionary approach, rather than wading in and ruining our fragile coastline forever."

World's first commercial wave power project goes live

Babcock and Brown Ltd (alternative asset managing company), EDP (Portuguese Government: Energias de Portugal) and Pelamis Wave Power Ltd (Edinburgh based wave energy manufacturer) have jointly announced that the world's first commercial wave power project has gone "live". The Aguadora project is situated off the Portuguese coast and will initially generate power using 3 Pelamis Wave Energy Converters.

In this first phase the total investment corresponds to about 9 million Euros. The second phase of the project will be to manufacture and install a further twenty five machines and bring the installed capacity up to 21MW. The generators are located approximately 3 miles off the coast.

Once complete the project is expected to meet the average annual electricity demand of more than 15,000 Portuguese households whilst displacing more than 60,000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide emissions from conventional generating plant. Antonino Lo Bianco, European Head of Infrastructure at Babcock and Brown, said, "I am very pleased to be announcing the start of this milestone project. Wave power offers huge potential, not just for Portugal but for many countries around the world where the harnessing of an inexhaustible supply of wave energy will produce a clean, zero carbon energy domestically. We expect wave power to become a widespread renewable energy technology and look forward to the benefits that investing at this early stage will bring."

Pelamis Wave Energy Convertors are semi-submerged, articulated structures composed of cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. The wave-induced motion of these joints is resisted by hydraulic rams, which pump high-pressure fluid through hydraulic motors via smoothing accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to produce electricity. Power from all the joints is fed down a single umbilical cable to a junction on the sea bed. Several devices can be connected together and linked to shore through a single seabed cable. Current production machines are 140m long and 3.5m in diameter with 3 power conversion modules per machine. Each machine is rated at 750kW.

The energy produced by Pelamis is dependent upon the conditions of the installation site. Depending on the wave resource, machines will on average produce 25-40% of the full rated output over the course of a year. Each machine can provide sufficient power to meet the annual electricity demand of approximately 500 homes.

Pelamis Wave Power www.pelamiswave.com headquarters are in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has been developing the Pelamis technology for the past 10 years. The prototype for the Portuguese machines was launched in February 2004 and first supplied electricity to the UK grid in August 2004. The company has worked closely with a wide range of Portuguese suppliers in the development of this project and with a view to the onward commercial roll-out of the technology in Portugal.

National Audit Office Investigation

The Great Yarmouth Mercury of 11th September 2008 reported on the NAO's investigation of MARINET's request.

Offshore dredging investigation

Hopes were raised this week that a link between coastal erosion and offshore dredging could be investigated further by a government spending watchdog. In June, North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb and environmental pressure group Marinet called for the National Audit Office to carry out a full investigation of the effects of offshore dredging because of fears it increases coastal erosion.

Although ruling out a specific investigation into whether dredging should be allowed to continue, the watchdog has announced a review of the way the Environment Agency deals with coastal protection. In a letter to the MP, it highlighted three main issues: the way the agency develops its strategies for managing the coastline; how it decides which schemes are given the go-ahead; and whether the "cost-benefit analysis" (an assessment of the benefits of coastal protection in relation to how much they cost) was adequate.

Pat Gowen, East Anglia spokesman for Marinet, said that although the watchdog had not agreed to a full investigation of dredging, he believed the announcement was good news. He said a review of the Environment Agency's role would be likely to include a look at dredging and could lead to a reduction in the activity.

On Monday, Mr Lamb agreed the review was a positive result. He said: "That is clearly good news. Many of us feel the cost-benefit analysis does not take into account fully the value of our landscape here and the importance of the communities that are affected." But the MP added the decision not to look specifically at whether aggregate dredging, which raised £17.7m for the government in 2007-08, should continue was disappointing. He said: "A vast amount of money is being raised by the government by issuing dredging licences - the very least they could do is agree to commission new research to ensure we have a better understanding of it."

Scotland's first no fishing zone established in Lamlash Bay, Isle of Arran

Scotland's first no fishing zone has come into effect in Lamlash Bay, off the Isle of Arran. The new community marine reserve has been set-up in part of the bay in an attempt to strike a balance between fishing and marine conservation. It is hoped the fishing ban will help protect local fish and shellfish populations and maerl seaweed beds. It is anticipated that as a result nearby scallop beds will become more productive, benefiting local fishermen.

The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) has been campaigning for 13 years for this "no-take" marine reserve and commercial fishermen in the area have also added their support. Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead praised conservationists, fishermen, and other members of the local community for working together and finding "mutually beneficial ground".

"We believe that it is important to take responsibility for our seas and the resources they represent" said Kenneth McNab of the Clyde Fishermen's Association. "It demonstrates what can happen when people work together on common goals and we empower communities to find local solutions to local issues. We will be watching the project closely, particularly as it is the first of its kind, to see what lessons can be learned for the future."

COAST chairman Howard Wood said the marine reserve marked a new beginning for the area. "After many years we at last have our marine reserve," he said. "We are now looking forward to the benefits it will bring and to working with a range of people over the months and years ahead."

The COAST project has been assisted by Tom Appleby of the University of Bristol Law School, who has helped with the complex legal issues which were raised during the decision process. COAST has also been supported by Professor Callum Roberts of the University of York, one of the world's leading experts on marine conservation. Prof. Roberts is also a consultant to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and author of the influential book "The Unnatural History of the Sea." The diving organisation Seasearch also gathered vital evidence for COAST and their evidence underpinned COAST's proposals for Lamlash Bay. Seasearch is a volunteer underwater survey project for recreational divers who record observations of marine habitats and the life they support. Seasearch is co-ordinated by the Marine Conservation Society.

The underwater scientific baseline survey of Lamlash Bay starts next month and, with constant monitoring, the results will hopefully inform the management of Scotland's seas in the future. The scheme is unique in Scotland as it combines all the forces of the local stakeholders including conservationists and fishermen. It is hoped that it may be used as a template for elsewhere.

Coastline Protection by creating further erosion

Despite our advice on the impact and concern of the consequences, again the Environmental Agency is dredging sand offshore to place on devastated beaches caused by dredging sand offshore. MARINET liken this to the unwise monkey who ate his tail in order to get the protein supply needed to grow a longer tail.
Please refer to www.marinet.org.uk/coastaldefences/beachrecharge.html for the detail.
This waste of money has been taken up by the Audit Office in response to MARINET's concern, so sanity may yet prevail.
The following article by Ed Foss appeared in the Eastern Daily Press of 23rd September 2008.

Sea defences 'beefed up'

Eccles is one stretch of coastline where the sea cuts in behind the sea wall. It will be rebuilt with thousands of tonnes of rock. Photo: Mike Page.

Tens of thousands of tonnes of sea defence rock will be shipped to Norfolk's coast by barge in the run up to Christmas, while a sister operation pumps huge quantities of sand from the seabed to build up the beaches. The multi-million pound project will beef up and repair both the soft and hard defences around Waxham, Horsey, Winterton, Sea Palling and Eccles as contractors Team Van Oord carry out the work on behalf of the Environment Agency.

Although the news of strengthened defences has been welcomed, the detail of the wider management of such projects has been criticised by campaigners, as has the location from where the sand is being dredged. The project will see 280,000 cubic metres of sand used to recharge the beaches at Sea Palling and Waxham, while 30,000 tonnes of rock will be brought to Eccles and Horsey. The sand will be dredged from the seabed approximately 10 miles offshore between Yarmouth and Lowestoft and piped ashore.

The recharging project was launched in the mid 1990s as part of a wider scheme which saw nine granite offshore reefs built at Sea Palling and Waxham to protect the Broads - resulting in altered patterns of longshore drift and the starvation of sand supplies to beaches to the south of the reefs.

The recharging was controversially shelved in 2005 after Defra withdrew Environment Agency funding. That funding has now been made available again. Rock will be used to build ten groynes between Horsey Ness and Winterton Ness Gap to replace failed timber or rock groynes. Surplus rock buried under the beach will also be excavated for reuse, while a 275 metre stretch of rock revetment at Eccles will be reconstructed.

Last night, Malcolm Kerby of the Happisburgh based Coastal Concern Action Group, said the beach recharging was happening at a stage when it was "utterly urgent", but he said the decision to dredge so close to the coast was "madness". "The Dutch are the world's masters in this and they have a simple rule - don't dredge within 15 miles of the coast or you risk increasing erosion rates. Are we barking mad? It's too close."

Mr Kerby was also critical of the project not taking into account Happisburgh, especially the area called Low Light, which has long been considered a key 'back door' to the Broads. "Any defences for this bit of coast are a good thing, of course they are," he said. "But the one place that's most vulnerable, the Achilles heel if you like, is at Low Light, where no money has been spent for half a century, and you have yet another example of totally bonkers coastal mismanagement by the government. "If you wrote down what the government have been doing with our coast, you would be accused of making it up - no one would believe you."

An Environment Agency spokesman said last night: "It is more environmentally friendly to bring the rock in by sea rather than by road or train. "Delivery dates for the rock will begin in early October."

Greenpeace proposes an offshore Electricity Grid for the entire North Sea

A new Greenpeace report has revealed how a regionally integrated approach to the large-scale development of offshore wind in the North Sea could deliver reliable clean energy for millions of homes.

The North Sea Electricity Grid [R]evolution report (see the full report here as a pdf file) calls for the creation of an offshore network to enable the smooth flow of electricity generated from renewable energy sources into the power systems of seven different countries: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. An integrated grid would bolster the development of renewable energy and allow significant emission savings.

"The grid would enable the efficient large-scale integration of renewable energy in the power system across the whole North Sea region. A dip in wind power generation in one area could be 'balanced' by higher production in another area, even hundreds of kilometres away, providing clean power for millions of European homes," said Frauke Thies, Greenpeace EU renewables policy campaigner.

The cost of developing the grid is expected to be between €15 and 20 billion. This investment would not only allow the broad integration of renewable energy, but also unlock unprecedented power trading opportunities and cost-efficiency. In a recent example, a new 600 kilometre-long power line between Norway and the Netherlands cost €600 million to build, but is already allowing €800,000 a day in cross-border trade.

"Building a North Sea grid is not just a pipe dream; it's common sense both environmentally and financially. Greenpeace has called on the European Commission to deliver a strong EU Action Plan for offshore wind and to push for a co-ordinated approach to make this scenario a reality." said Thies.

Greenpeace also calls for a co-ordinated European approach for the development of offshore network capacity which includes strategic grid planning at EU and national level, priority grid connection and access for renewable energy, and a European investment framework to encourage investments in grids.

Harmful anti-fouling paints on ship's hulls are now illegal

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has announced that an international convention banning the use of organotins and other harmful substances in anti-fouling paints applied on ships' hulls enters into force on 17 September 2008.

The International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships (AFS Convention) was adopted on 5 October 2001 by IMO and the terms for its entry into force (ratification by 25 States representing 25 per cent of the world's merchant shipping tonnage) were reached last year. The Convention has, to date, been ratified by 34 States, with a combined 52.81 per cent of world merchant shipping tonnage.

Under the Convention, ships are not permitted to apply or re-apply organotin compounds which act as biocides in their anti-fouling systems. From now on ships either shall not carry such compounds on their hulls or external parts or surface or, in the case of ships that already carry such compounds on their hulls, will have to apply a coating that forms a barrier to prevent them leaching from the underlying non-compliant anti-fouling systems.

The Convention also establishes a mechanism to evaluate and assess other anti-fouling systems and prevent the potential future use of other harmful substances in these systems.

The Convention applies to ships flying the flag of a Party to the Convention, as well as ships not entitled to fly their flag but which operate under their authority, and to all ships that enter a port, shipyard or offshore terminal of a Party. It applies to all ships, including fixed or floating platforms, floating storage units (FSUs) and floating production storage and off-loading units (FPSOs).

Anti-fouling systems

Anti-fouling paints are used to coat the bottoms of ships to prevent sealife such as algae and molluscs attaching themselves to the hull - thereby slowing down the ship and increasing fuel consumption.
The AFS Convention defines "anti-fouling systems" as "a coating, paint, surface treatment, surface, or device that is used on a ship to control or prevent attachment of unwanted organisms".
In the early days of sailing ships, lime and later arsenic were used to coat ships' hulls, until the modern chemicals industry developed effective anti-fouling paints using metallic compounds. These compounds slowly "leach" into the sea water, killing barnacles and other marine life that have attached to the ship.
However studies have shown that these compounds persist in the water, killing sealife, harming the environment and possibly entering the food chain. One of the most popular anti-fouling paints, developed in the 1960s, contained the organotin compound tributyltin (TBT), which has been proven to cause deformations in oysters and sex changes in whelks.
Today, there are a variety of effective anti-fouling systems available which do not contain TBT, such as organotin-free anti-fouling paints and biocide-free non-stick coatings which have an extremely slippery surface - preventing fouling occurring and making it easier to clean when it does.

Food Standards Agency issues UK Shellfish Quality Classification for 2008

The UK Government (Food Standards Agency) issues an annual classification of the quality of shellfish production beds based upon the presence of E.coli per 100g of shellfish flesh. The classification runs from Class A to Class C based on the level of E.coli present. The presence of E.coli is generally attributed to sewage pollution, or its absence.

All shellfish must meet Class A standards before it can be marketed and sold. Shellfish from Classes B and C will need further processing, for example heat treatment, to adhere to the EU legislation before they can be sold. It is the harvesters' responsibility to carry out the appropriate testing to sell their shellfish. If the level of E.coli present exceeds the upper limit of Class C, then harvesting from that shellfish bed is prohibited.

Note: Information about the species of shellfish which are to be found on the Food Standards Agency website is as follows:

Also, an illustrated guide and an explanation of the different species of mollusc and their life cycles can be found on the MARINET website, see www.marinet.org.uk/mreserves/marineanimals.html

Happisburgh erosion continues unabated

Here are two pictures taken by aerial photographer Mike Page of the North Norfolk village of Happisburgh. The upper picture was taken ten years ago, the lower as it is in September '08. And Happisburgh is just one example of many of the rate of erosion since large scale Offshore Aggregate Dredging commenced.
For further detail see panoramic views of Happisburgh (BBC website) and also In Pictures - A village under threat (BBC website)

Tyndall Forum : 'How do we create a Sustainable Coastline?'

That was the title for the Tyndall Centre Forum held at the University of East Anglia on 10th September '08. It was attended by 63 invited guests including MARINET and members of our Coastal Group.

Sea Rise Undercalculated

John Welch points out in the Eastern Daily Press of 10th September that the new information in a study by the Met Office would make it appear that sea level rise could be two to three times that originally forecast, and even up to five times under surge conditions. This could prove catastrophic for much of East Anglia.

Fears for coast from new flood warning

Sea levels could rise more than twice as fast than currently predicted, putting large areas of East Anglia at serious risk from catastrophic flooding, new research suggests. A study by the Met Office has revealed that the government's official predictions for sea level rise are out of date because they do not include the effects of meltwater from the Greenland ice sheet. The situation is so serious that the Environment Agency is having to review its defence plans for London and other parts of the country.

montage centred on Norwich castle showing the surrounding streets submerged

Virtual chaos: How the online game, Floodsim.com, visualises the centre of Norwich if sea levels rise

The extent of the problem was revealed for the first time yesterday by Dr Jason Lowe, a senior Met Office climate scientist, who has just completed the most detailed study yet into the likely rates of sea-level rise around Britain for the Environment Agency.

Dr Lowe said that, while the agency's current flood defences were based on predictions of a rise of just under one metre this century, average water levels around Britain could rise by as much as two or three metres. And the effects of storm surges, such as the one that created a major emergency alert on the Norfolk and Suffolk coast last November, could push water levels up further, to four or even five metres. If that happened, the present Thames Barrier, designed to cope only with rises of just over a metre, would be useless and some existing defences in East Anglia could also be over-topped.

Dr Lowe, speaking at the British Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Liverpool, said other major conurbations on estuaries or in coastal areas, as well as nuclear power stations, could now be considered vulnerable.

What worries scientists is new satellite evidence showing that the 1m square mile Greenland ice-cap is breaking up much more quickly than previously realised. Also, the Antarctic ice sheet is collapsing much faster than predicted. Met Office scientists have studied historical evidence showing what happened when the polar ice-caps last started melting 120,000 years ago. Their conclusion is that the rate of sea-level rise this century could be two or three times previous estimates.

For people in coastal areas of Britain, as well as those living close to tidal estuaries such as the Thames and Humber, the situation is made worse by increasing frequency of storms and extreme rainfall of the kind experienced for the past two summers.

Environment Agency head of flood and coastal risk management David Rook said sea defences for all of England and Wales were being reviewed but the most vulnerable areas were the East Anglian coast, the Thames and Humber estuaries and the entire east coast as far north as Flam-borough Head, in Yorkshire. He added: "We are currently undertaking a long-term investment strategy to look at the investment that needs to be made over the next 25 years, and we plan to publish a draft strategy in the spring of next year."

Michael Walker, chairman of the North-East Norfolk Coastal Parishes Group, said: "All the evidence has to be carefully considered, and no individual piece of research should be considered as actually changing the overall situation. I'm not alarmed at all by it on its own."

Progress on Wind Farms

This item in the East Anglian Daily Times of 10th September 2008 highlights the ongoing drive to provide more windfarms off our East Anglian coast.

Wind farm work moves closer

A massive crane barge is on its way to the Essex coast to help in the construction of an offshore wind farm. The 13,600 tonne Svanen is due to arrive off the shores of Clacton late next week when it will start work on foundations of the Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm - which is set to be fully operational by 2010. It is the next phase in Danish power firm Dong Energy's plans to erect a wind farm 7km out to sea that could power 120,000 homes, about 20% of Essex.

Peter Sills, Dong's head of communications for the project, said each monopile foundation was up to 50m tall and weighed 400 tonnes. "They will be driven up to 40m into the seabed by hydraulic hammer and it takes between two and four hours per monopile," he said. "The transition pieces are then mounted on top of the monopile by crane and painted yellow to assist with navigation. Each transition piece weighs 230 tonnes and is 23m tall. The total time to install a monopile and transition piece is under two days."

The large cranes and jack-up barges will be positioned using tugs, which utilise state-of-the-art positioning systems for pinpoint accuracy. These tugs will be working out of local ports in the Thames Estuary and a number of smaller vessels will be working out of Brightlingsea on the River Colne - carrying out surveys, continuing environmental monitoring studies, and ferrying personnel to and from the construction site.

Mr Sills added: "The wind turbines will be erected during the spring and summer of next year and will be commissioned in phases as the turbines become available for energy production."

Windfarms and Fishing

Although the placement of a windfarm base can, like wrecks, act so as to increase the fish population by habitat provision, fishing is excluded from the area. Further, the placement of wind farms can act as an impediment in important long established fishing grounds.
The following item in the Eastern Daily Press of 4th September '08" suggests that compromise may soon be forthcoming allowing consideration of the needs of fishermen's livelihood, off North Norfolk at least.

Fishermen to get bigger say on windfarms

Fishermen off north Norfolk are welcoming assurances they will get a louder voice over where the next batch of offshore windfarms will sited. The Crown Estate, which allocates windfarm licences, has told a national fishermen's lobby there would be better liaison to ensure sensitive fishing areas were avoided. Off Norfolk, where the seas are set to take up to another 1,000 turbines in the national push for green offshore energy, the news was given a guarded welcome.

Ivan Large, chairman of two fishermen's societies representing 50 boats in north Norfolk, said: "It will be good - if they do what they say."

Fishermen had been frustrated in the past at getting their concerns across to windfarm developers as they consulted over their environmental impact studies at the detailed stage - so would welcome the chance to get their point across during earlier strategic discussions over potential sites. "We are getting our message across - eventually. We don't want windfarms in important fishing grounds, or big exclusion zones we have to steam around. It would be another nail in our coffin," said Mr Large.

They were issues raised over windfarms currently in the pipeline, such as the scores planned at the Sheringham and Dudgeon Shoals. But the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO) has been told by the Crown Estate there would be better and earlier liaison over the third round sites, which include a large area off the North Norfolk coast as the Government turns up the wick to meet renewable energy targets. NFFO chief executive Barrie Deas said there was already a liaison group, but compared to a similar one on offshore oil and gas it had "failed to live up to expectations" he told Fishing News.

Mr Large said fishermen worked different areas of the seas at different times of the year, so the loss of any more grounds to windfarms was a potential blow.

The Seahorse Trust argues for greater protection of seahorses at Studland Bay

Sightings of Britain's two indigenous species of seahorse - the spiny and short-snouted seahorses - are on the increase. However an argument is brewing over how to protect the creatures which just a decade ago were extremely rare. Studland Bay, near Bournemouth, is home to Britain's largest known colony, according to the Seahorse Trust. Yet while seahorses became a protected species in the UK in April 2008, the Trust says that leisure boats anchoring off shore are destroying the eel grass in which they live and breed in.

A spiny seahorse (hippocampus guttulatus) in Studland Bay, Dorset. Photograph: Steve Trewhella

Steve Trewhella, a marine photographer, has been monitoring the population for the Trust. "We found a pregnant male at Studland four years ago and it was the only one ever seen in the UK. Since then" he says "their numbers have been snowballing. We're into the 40s now, and still finding more. At least half have been pregnant males. They're not that common in the world and definitely unique here. You've got moorings scouring the grass, which is as diverse as any reef, and in the Bank Holidays there are more of them (moorings). Some people have said 'well they must be doing OK with the boats there but we need a closed area to see if it regenerates. Is it in decline? We have no idea. There's never been an opportunity to study wild seahorses in the UK. We've watched them courting - things we've never seen before. Each male can give birth to up to 300 young and be pregnant again within 24 hours."

Ian Alexander, team leader in the region for Natural England, says "We know that eel grass is a really important habitat for a range of species and there's no doubt boats cause a disturbance," Ian Alexander recommends a voluntary approach: "Anchoring is a public right. Boats have been persuaded in other parts of the country to keep clear. Voluntary is the right way to go. We all have a vested interest to ensure that the eel grass is protected."

Neil Garrick-Maidment, director and founder of the Seahorse Trust, says the wording of the Wildlife and Countryside Act which protects the species gives room for complacency. "It's a site of international importance. The Act says both the seahorse and its habitat are protected, but if you aren't aware that the moorings off the beach are illegal then you can say you didn't know. We're not trying to be killjoys, we're just saying be careful where you put your anchors- don't put them in the eel grass."

The British seahorse survey, which was set up in 1994 and part-funded by Natural England, has improved knowledge of seahorses using sightings by the public (around 700 in 14 years) and all sides agree that much is still unknown about the creatures. While Natural England represents the government's position, the Crown Estate owns the seabed and the National Trust owns the beach. Resolving the issue of the seahorses' habitat will therefore require careful co-operation.

Suffolk Coast - another victim of 'Managed Retreat'

Despite massive opposition and evidence as to the folly, the Government's Environment Agency is resolute in its plan to allow the sea to take some of the most beautiful part of coastal Suffolk. Here Jonathan Barnes, in the East Anglian Daily Times of 5th September '08 describes the intense anger engendered by those desperate to save the area.

Fury as Suffolk coast 'abandoned' to sea

Campaigners reacted with fury last night after it emerged the Environment Agency was pressing ahead with plans to abandon huge swathes of the Suffolk coast to the sea. The agency has confirmed it still intends to enforce its policy of "managed retreat" on the Blyth Estuary - despite massive public opposition to the plans. The council has responded by launching a £1.6million bid to heighten a stretch of the A12 at Blythburgh to stop the key link road between Ipswich and Lowestoft flooding.

The Environment Agency (EA) announced last year it could not afford to maintain river defences on the Blyth beyond five years - and that Southwold Harbour could only be protected for the next 20 years. It said the estimated £35m cost of maintaining the defences could not be justified - but local people reacted with anger after it emerged that thousands of acres of farmland would be lost to the sea, while as many as 23 homes could be at risk of flooding. The policy is also likely to be repeated in other estuaries in Suffolk and Essex, starting with the Alde and Ore and the Deben.

Campaigners held huge protests against the plans - forming a human SOS sign on Walberswick beach in February and a human chain on Southwold promenade in August, timed to coincide with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's holiday in the area. They said the plans would effectively cut off Southwold and cause the A12 to flood regularly where it crosses the estuary at Blythburgh.

But it has now emerged that, following public consultation, the agency has decided to go-ahead with its plans, which it will discuss at a meeting in Ipswich on September 26. It is understood the EA has accepted it should continue to defend the northern river wall, which protects Reydon Marshes, and the A1095 road between the A12 and Southwold. But it is committed to managed retreat along the Blyth, saying that maintaining the defences was "not a high enough priority".

Guy McGregor, Suffolk County Council's portfolio holder for roads and transport and chairman of the Blyth Strategy Group, said: "I am frustrated that a sensible approach has not prevailed. The agency's cost-benefit analysis is fundamentally flawed. They have not taken into account the value of Southwold and its tourism industry. This should be a ministerial decision. The Environment Agency should not be allowed to put people's livelihoods in jeopardy and the economy of Southwold at risk." He added: "We have now got to find the money to protect the A12 from flooding - we have got to ensure the A12 stays open."

Mr McGregor said he believed the agency had to protect Reydon Marshes otherwise it would have to find a substantial amount of money to find a new habitat for birds. He said a stretch of "half a mile or so" of the A12 would have to be heightened to reduce the flooding risk and a £1.6m bid had been submitted to the Department of Transport. The council should hear if the bid has been successful early next year and the work may start in 2010.

Richard Woollard, media manager with the EA, said the Blyth strategy would be discussed by the Eastern Region Flood Defence Committee when it meets in Ipswich on September 26. "We have also planned other meetings both with councillors and community representatives to discuss the way forward," he said. "We are really encouraged that the county council has submitted a proposal to raise the A12 and hope that they are successful. Regarding Reydon wall, we have always recognised that there is an economic case to maintain it but it is not a high enough priority when judged against other national priorities to attract national funding to rebuild the wall."

Marine Conservation Society publishes new "Good Fish Guide" for consumers

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has published an updated guide for consumers about which fish are being sustainably and unsustainably fished, and which are therefore appropriate to buy. The full details are on the website Fishonline www.fishonline.org This website gives advice for almost every variety of fish to be found on sale in the UK. A free "MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide" is also available. Using this information, MCS believes that consumers can make a sustainable seafood choice at fish counters, restaurants and other outlets. However, MCS is concerned that inadequate labelling on many seafood products will still lead to some confusion amongst shoppers.

Marine Conservation Society Fisheries Officer Sam Wilding says, "Labelling of seafood sold in the UK is lacking detail, and as such is not fit for purpose. This is leading to confusion amongst consumers who really want to make the best sustainable seafood choice. It is vital that consumers are given better information to act upon if we are to reduce the tragedy of overfishing. Whilst we wait for fish sellers to help consumers make the right sustainable seafood choice, we advise that if consumers are not confident that their fish is sustainably sourced they should question their retailer closely for more information".

MCS believes that cod is an example of why such labelling is important. With cod stocks at various levels of abundance in different regions, there are better and worse choices to make in terms of buying sustainably. MCS believes that cod from the Northeast Arctic would be a better choice than cod from the North Sea, for example. However without that information available on labels consumers are left confused and frustrated. MCS recommends that when faced with this situation, consumers should try different species that are considered a good sustainable choice. Sustainable alternatives to cod include pouting (or bib), red or grey gurnard, and pollack.

The Fishonline website provides a simple and advanced search facility, and information on the state of different stocks, impacts of the fishery on non-target species and the marine environment, the impacts of various fishing methods and lists of fish to eat and to avoid plus much more. The lists of "fish to eat" and "fish to avoid" are summarised in the MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide, which can be used as a quick reference whilst doing the weekly shop, at the take-away, or dining out. The Pocket Good Fish Guide is available free of charge from MCS (upon receipt of SAE) - call 01989-566017, e-mail info@mcsuk.org or download a copy from the www.fishonline.org website.

Ireland considers carbon storage sites in the Irish Sea

An "all-island" Irish geological study is looking at sites for carbon capture and storage. It has so far identified sites near Strangford Lough (N. Ireland), the Peel Basin near the Isle of Man, and the Morecambe Bay gasfield (NW England) as the most promising. A detailed financial examination by the study estimates it will be 2020 before it becomes economically viable for power stations to employ CCS technology. After 2012 polluters such as power stations will have to pay large sums of money, possibly €100 per tonne of carbon, for the pollution they emit by way of carbon credits. Currently, scientists believe that carbon capture and storage (CCS) can capture up to 90% of carbon from a power plant and that it can be piped directly underground for storage.

MARINET member questions accuracy of Bathing Water monitoring at Whitburn

Bob Latimer, a MARINET member who lives at Whitburn, near Sunderland, and who has recently drawn attention in MARINET Latest News to the operation of the combined sewer overflow system at Whitburn (see 'MARINET member explains storm sewage problem at Whitburn'), believes that the Environment Agency monitoring of bathing water quality at Whitburn in connection with the Bathing Water Directive may be suspect.

Bob Latimer has been provided with records from Sunderland City Council (see below) which show that the beach at Whitburn (known as Seaburn beach) was covered with sewage debris on 15th June 2007, the cause of which is believed to be a discharge from the combined sewer overflow at Whitburn.

When consulting the Environment Agency record for monitoring of bathing water quality in connection with the Bathing Water Directive at Whitburn on that same date, 15th June 2007, he has found that the record shows that the monitoring result is classed as "No Result, Replacement Sample to be Taken" (See below). The question therefore arises as to why the Environment Agency sampling on this date failed, and whether an accurate record of bathing water quality at Whitburn is being recorded.

Bob Latimer has written to the Environment Agency to enquire why the sample taken on 15th June 2007 produced "No Result" and whether a replacement sample was taken on the same date. The reply from the Agency (click here) has stated that all samples have to be analysed within 24 hours, and that due to the late arrival of the 15 June sample at the laboratory it had to be discarded. Regarding whether a replacement sample was taken on the same day, the Agency has advised that another sample was scheduled for the next day (16th June) but was not actually taken until 19th June (i.e. 5 days later). The sample taken on 19th June showed compliance of the bathing waters with the mandatory standard of the Bathing Water Directive (see below).

Bob Latimer has now sent a formal complaint to the EU Commission about the administration of sampling in 2007 at Whitburn in accordance with the Bathing Water Directive, and the EU Commission has acknowledged that it is investigating.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Good Beach Guide, which is based on Environment Agency records, shows that Whitburn bathing water can be subject to a storm water discharges.

Despite this, Whitburn bathing water reached the MCS Recommended standard in 2006 and 2007 (Recommended Standard = Highest water quality standard, and any continuous sewage discharges are treated adequately).

The MCS Good Beach Guide 2008 listing (i.e. based on the EA data collected during the 2007 bathing season) shows that Whitburn bathing water quality attained a basic pass (i.e. complied with the the Bathing Water Directive's mandatory standard, but not its stricter guideline standard).

Therefore the question is : if the Whitburn combined sewer overflow discharged on 15th June 2007 and the EA monitoring result on that same date showed "No Result", was the actual water quality at Whitburn being properly measured during 2007? And if it was not, did Whitburn bathing water actually pass the Bathing Water Directive's mandatory standard in 2007 and thus merit a "basic pass" listing for 2008 as recorded in the Marine Conservation Society's Good Beach Guide ?

The outcome of the EU Commission investigation is awaited by Bob Latimer whose confidence is current procedures is low.

Wave machine set to be tested offshore

Eastern Daily Press of 1st September '08

An innovative machine which converts the movement of waves into electricity is set to be tested off the East Anglian coast this autumn. The wave energy prototype is going to be based about six miles off the coast of Southwold for a year-long trial and if it is successful, its design could be used for a series of offshore wave farms around the British coastline.

Essex-based company Trident Energy is behind the trial and spokesman Kate Hill said that the 12-month pilot of the environmentally-friendly scheme should be ready to start by the end of September. She said: "Trident is looking to develop a marine renewable energy system and this machine uses quite simple technology. It has one moving part which sits on the sea and generates electricity from the movement of the waves. We do not have a definite date as yet, but the sea trial should be ready to start in the early autumn."

Although the prototype machine is on a smaller scale, it is thought that a wave farm of less than half a square mile could generate enough electricity to power more than 60,000 homes and that situating wave farms around the coast could eventually provide a fifth of the electricity needed in the UK.

Trident Energy applied for permission to trial the machine off Southwold in January this year and now the prototype is almost ready to be placed out to sea. The machine is being built in Lowestoft by marine engineering company Small and Co, which has also recently been tasked with the restoration of the historic steam cargo vessel the SS Robin. Paul Kirby, co-owner of Small and Co, which is based on the banks of Lake Lothing, said that work on the prototype is expected to be finished by the end of September.

Known as Trident Energy 3, the machine consists of a small platform measuring about 15sq m supported by submerged pontoons anchored to the sea bed. Floats are moved up and down by the waves to generate power. During the trial the energy will be disposed of at the platform, but large-scale commercial wave farms would be connected to the land by underwater cables so that the electricity generated can be passed into the National Grid.

For more information on Trident Energy go to their website at www.tridentenergy.co.uk

Abandoning the best of Norfolk to the Sea

In addition to the Environment Agencies countenanced loss of the Cley Marshes, by failure to maintain the 500 year old shingle sea defence bank, we now have the abandonment of two more internationally acclaimed wildlife site, the RSPB's Titchwell, probably England's finest bird reserve, and the National Trust Blakeney Point, acclaimed as one of the ten of the UK's finest coastal beauty spots.

All are deemed to be lost, in part at least, for similar reasons to those same excuses given by the Broads Authority in contemplating the loss of many beautiful Norfolk villages, historic churches and the Broads themselves.

Even MORE Dredging?

Despite the obvious evidence of the ongoing erosion brought about by continuing offshore dredging, it would appear that there is more to come. Whilst the new area sought is a further eastward thrust of the huge dredging area already existing off Great Yarmouth, that projected for Southwold is an area far closer to the shoreline than that now being dredged, and appears to offer a greater threat of erosion to the Sizewell Bank and the nuclear power stations. The following article by Mark Lord appeared in the pages of the East Anglian Daily Times of 26th August '08.

New threat to Suffolk coast

Campaigners fighting to protect the county's coastline from the ravages of the sea said last night that plans to vastly increase the dredging zone off Southwold could dramatically "speed up" erosion. Marine aggregate companies want to dredge an area of seabed off the coast which campaigners claim would be 10 times the size of the current dredging zone being worked.

Environmental pressure group Marinet, which is part of Friends of the Earth, has warned a consortium of marine aggregate companies is considering increasing the current area used for dredging.

The newly-formed Anglian Offshore Dredging Association (AODA) has put the new area forward for discussion and is to hold a public information day on the proposals.

Marinet said AODA had not yet applied for a licence to dredge the new area but it had carried out a marine aggregate regional environmental assessment and an application was expected shortly. Pat Gowen, of Marinet and the North Sea Action Group, said: "This new area would be much nearer to the shoreline and much more localised damage would be caused to the area around Southwold much quicker than in the past. Dredging causes larger waves and speeds up erosion along our coast." He added that dredging makes the seabed steeper and weakens offshore sandbanks which otherwise would break up large waves.

Coastal protection campaigner Peter Boggis, who has built his own sea defences at Easton Bavents, near Southwold, said: "The affects of dredging are not clearly understood and the Government should adopt a precautionary principle and be sure the coast is properly protected before allowing any further dredging to take place. "It has been noted in Easton Bavents and Southwold that dredging has increased erosion in the area."

No-one from AODA or for the British Marine Aggregate Producers' Association (BMAPA), which represents most of the companies involved in offshore dredging, were available to comment yesterday. But a statement on the BMAPA website said that "by providing essential resources to replenish beaches, marine aggregates are a solution to coastal erosion rather than the cause of it. Such erosion is a natural process, driven by waves and currents that affect both beaches and cliffs."

It added: "One of the industry's key objectives is to ensure that dredging does not affect such processes; for example by changing the wave climate or interfering with seabed sediment transport. Before permission to dredge is granted, careful analysis of waves and currents in the area is undertaken using hydrodynamic models. Permission would not be given if the experts felt there was the slightest threat. As a further safety mechanism, monitoring of the seabed, and adjacent coast in sensitive areas, is also undertaken while dredging is carried out."

AODA is holding a public information day at the Vice Admiral Bar at Great Yarmouth Racecourse on September 26, with three 20 minute presentation sessions at 3pm, 5pm and 7pm.

Marinet has asked the National Audit Office to investigate whether it is cost-effective to dredge sand and gravel for sea defences when the dredging itself may be contributing to erosion.

Marine dredging is a major source of government income, raising millions every year in licences because the land is part of the Crown Estate - and millions more in VAT when the aggregate is sold. About 25million tonnes of sand and gravel are taken from the sea bed around England and Wales each year. The material is used mostly for buildings and roads, but some goes to repair sea defences and replace sand washed away from beaches.

The Growing Oxygen Depletion threat to our seas

The Guardian of Friday August 15th '08 produced this very worrying article written by environment correspondent David Adam on the growing threat of oxygen depletion to our worlds seas.

Suffocating dead zones spread across world's oceans

Critically low oxygen levels now pose as great a threat to life in the world's oceans as overfishing and habitat loss say experts.

With more than 400 oxygen-starved dead zones in global coastal waters, scientists are calling for such dead zones to be recognised as one of the world's great environmental problems. Man-made pollution is spreading a growing number of suffocating dead zones across the world's seas with disastrous consequences for marine life, scientists have warned.

The experts say the hundreds of regions of critically low oxygen now affect a combined area the size of New Zealand, and that they pose as great a threat to life in the world's oceans as overfishing and habitat loss. The number of such seabed zones - caused when massive algal blooms feeding off pollutants such as fertiliser die and decay - has boomed in the last decade. There were some 405 recorded in coastal waters worldwide in 2007, up from 305 in 1995 and 162 in the 1980s.

Robert Diaz, an oceans expert at the US Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, at Gloucester Point, said: "Dead zones were once rare. Now they're commonplace. There are more of them in more places."

Marine bacteria feed on the algae in the blooms after it has died and sunk to the bottom, and in doing so they use up all of the oxygen dissolved in the water. The resulting 'hypoxic' seabed zones can asphyxiate swathes of bottom dwelling organisms such as clams and worms, and disrupt fish populations.

Diaz and his colleague, Rutger Rosenberg of the department of marine ecology at the University of Gothenburg, call for more careful use of fertilisers to address the problem. Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say the dead zones must be viewed as one of the "major global environmental problems". They say: "There is no other variable of such ecological importance to coastal marine ecosystems that has changed so drastically over such a short time." The key solution, they say, is to "keep fertilisers on the land and out of the sea". Changes in the way fertilisers and other pollutants are managed on land have already "virtually eliminated" dead zones from the Mersey and Thames estuaries, they say.

Diaz says his concern is shared by farmers who are worried about the high cost of fertilizers. "They certainly don't want to see their dollars flowing off their fields. Scientists and farmers need to continue working together to minimise the transfer of nutrients from land to sea."

The number of dead zones reported has doubled each decade since the 1960s, but the scientists say they are often ignored until they provoke problems among populations of larger creatures such as fish or lobsters. By killing or stunting the growth of bottom-dwelling organisms, the lack of oxygen denies food to creatures higher up the food chain. The Baltic Sea, site of the world's largest dead zone, has lost about 30% of its available food energy, which has led to a significant decline in its fisheries.

The lack of oxygen can also force fish into warmer waters closer to the surface, perhaps making them more susceptible to disease. The size of marine dead zones often fluctuates with the seasons. A massive dead zone, some 8,000 square miles across, forms each summer in the Gulf of Mexico as floodwater flushes nitrogen-rich fertiliser into the Mississippi River. Experts said it was slightly smaller than expected this year because Hurricane Dolly stirred up the water. Dead zones require the water to be separated into layers, with little or no mixing between. As well as fertilisers rich in nitrates and phosphates, sewage discharges also contribute to the problem because they help the algal blooms to flourish.

Diaz and Rosenberg say: "We believe it would be unrealistic to return to pre-industrial levels of nutrient input [to oceans], but an appropriate management goal would be to reduce nutrient inputs to levels that occurred in the middle of the past century," before the rise in added nutrients began to spread dead zones globally.

Climate change could be adding to the problem. Many regions are expected to experience more severe periods of heavy rain, which could wash more nutrients from farmland into rivers.

In May, scientists reported that oxygen-depleted zones in tropical oceans are expanding. They analysed oxygen levels in samples of seawater and found the effect was largest in the central and eastern tropical Atlantic and the equatorial Pacific. The increase could push oxygen-starved zones closer to the surface and give marine life such as fish less room to live and look for food. The scientists, led by Lothar Stramma from the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Kiel, Germany, say the change could be linked to warming seas. At 0C, a litre of seawater can hold about 10ml of dissolved oxygen; at 25C this falls to 4ml. Stramma said: "Whether or not these observed changes in oxygen can be attributed to global warming alone is still unresolved." The reduction could also be down to natural processes working on shorter timescales, he said.

Compensation for erosion loss?

From the 19th August '08 Eastern Daily Press comes this article by Ed Foss. As aforesaid, it might appear that a new enlightened attitude has arisen. But in needs be noted that the prime cause of the losses remains non-addressed.

Cash possible for homes lost to the sea

People faced with losing their homes to coastal erosion or flooding by the North Sea last night welcomed a breakthrough in their fight for financial compensation. A senior government adviser, the new chairman of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith of Finsbury, yesterday urged the government seriously to consider using taxpayers' money to re-house those who lose out to the encroaching sea. It is the first time anyone of such standing has responded to the pleas of homeowners not to be left empty-handed after the sea claims their homes.

His comments were given a general welcome by those living on the brink of coastal erosion, although they stressed the need for speedy action and said the government was guilty of "ongoing ambiguity" over many issues linked with the management of the coast.

Di Wrightson, who lives within yards of the receding cliff edge at Happisburgh and is likely to have to move out of her home in the coming months, said she felt the wheels of government would almost certainly move too slowly to help her, but welcomed the fact the subject of compensation had finally reached the top table of government. "I really do think they are considering compensation now - and so they should, people are set to lose what they have worked their entire lives for, having been told when they bought their houses they would be protected," she said.

There have been increasing calls by homeowners for compensation to cushion the blow of losing their homes to the sea as the government attempts to move from a policy of holding the line to one of managed retreat along many parts of the coast.

Lord Smith, a former Labour cabinet minister, named north east Norfolk and Suffolk as being particularly at risk. He did not make specific comment about the six Broads villages named in a recent, deeply controversial Natural England report which identified an option to allow 25 square miles of Norfolk to be abandoned to the sea - nor did he speak about specific communities such as Happisburgh, which has been at the forefront of coastal campaigning in recent years, or the Blyth Estuary, which is also threatened. He also left many questions unanswered about the scale and timing of any compensation deals. But his comments clearly had them in mind and were the first signs of hope for those who have campaigned for years to secure payments for those at risk from climate change and rising sea levels.

Lord Smith said ministers could no longer rely on insurance companies to cover families who lost their homes, suggesting they would have to be rehoused at the taxpayers' expense. "We need to start having a serious discussion with government about what options can be put in place," said Lord Smith, who went on to say that the north east Norfolk and the Suffolk coastlines faced the most immediate danger.

Malcolm Kerby, coordinator of the Coastal Concern Action Group, a campaign body born from the problems faced in Happisburgh but which now has a reach into communities across the country and into several government bodies, said he "took tremendous heart" from Lord Smith's words, but added that it was vital to avoid "false hope". Mr Kerby said the compensation debate was only in existence because the government wanted to introduce policy changes such as managed retreat, which were "utter madness". "To have someone at the top of the Environment Agency say these things shows that he accepts that if the government wants to pursue the policies it says it wants to pursue - which are folly in themselves - then there has to be compensation. We need a clear steer on this now, the ongoing ambiguity created by different statements from the likes of the Environment Agency, the minister Phil Woolas, Defra and Natural England is unfair on everyone."

North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb said: "I am of course encouraged by the support for proper financial compensation for communities and individuals affected; it appears some headway is being made on this subject. "But I have deep concerns about the fact people can't play fast and loose with these communities, there is a danger that what Lord Smith has said will only serve to confuse people and his words beg many more questions than they answer."

Lord Smith said the agency was already drawing up projections as to which areas of coast would be most at risk over the next 50 years.

New thoughts on approach to Coastal Defences?

From the 18th August Independent comes this item giving the thoughts of the new EA Head on our coastal defences.

'Stark warning on Britain's shrinking coast' by Nigel Morris.

Stretches of Britain's coastline are doomed and plans will soon have to be drawn up to evacuate people from the most threatened areas, the new head of the Environment Agency warns today.

In his first interview since taking office, Lord Smith of Finsbury says Britain faces hard choices over which areas of our coast to defend and which to allow the sea to reclaim. He said detailed work was already far advanced on identifying areas of the east and south coasts which were most vulnerable to erosion, and called on ministers to give emergency help to families whose homes will be lost. In a wide-ranging interview, Lord Smith, a former cabinet minister, also warns that the Government is not taking the environment seriously in a series of key projects. He says "Building a third runaway at Heathrow Airport would be a "mistake" because of pollution and aircraft noise; Plans for a new generation of coal-fired electric power stations should be abandoned until the Government is certain they will not pump out harmful gases. The proposed Severn barrage will destroy fish stocks and wreck bird habitats".

Lord Smith disclosed that the agency was drawing up projections of where sea erosion will do most damage over the next five, 25, 50 and 100 years. It is also factoring in the additional problem of the threat to low-lying areas from rising sea levels. "This is the most difficult issue we are going to face as an agency," he said. "We know the sea is eating away at the coast in quite a number of places, primarily - but not totally exclusively - on the east and south coasts. It's a particularly huge issue in East Anglia, but in quite a number of other areas as well."

Lord Smith, a former culture secretary, promised to do his "level best to try to defend communities where there are significant numbers of properties under threat and where it's possible to find engineering solutions". But he said the agency, working with ministers, would have to identify "priority areas" and warned: "We are almost certainly not going to be able to defend absolutely every bit of coast - it would simply be an impossible task both in financial terms and engineering terms." Suggesting that parts of north-east Norfolk and Suffolk faced the most immediate danger, Lord Smith promised to work closely with the communities involved to achieve as much "consensus" as possible over which coastal stretches to protect.

He said: "We will publish next year details of the work that's been done, where we think the particular threats are, where we think there is current defence in place. We will begin to talk with communities where we think defence is not a viable option." He also said ministers could no longer rely on insurance companies to cover families who lost their homes, suggesting they would have to be rehoused at taxpayers' expense. He said: "We need to start having a serious discussion with government about what options can be put in place."

Lord Smith put himself on a collision course with his former colleagues over a number of important infrastructure projects championed in Whitehall. He dismissed the Department of Transport's insistence that building a new runway at Heathrow could be environmentally sustainable. "The increases in volume of air traffic and the consequent increases in congestion on the ground are, from the analysis that we've done, pretty unavoidable," he said. "I think the Government is making a mistake and I will carry on telling them that I think they are making a mistake."

He opposed building a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in north Kent - with others to follow - because he is not satisfied the promised technology to "capture and store" carbon would have been developed in time for its planned opening in the next decade. "My view would be that we should not go ahead with the development of a new coal-fired generation unless those [clean coal] technologies are in place and we can clean up the emissions."

Although he supported using the river Severn's huge tidal power to generate electricity, he said he was alarmed at the Government's support for a fixed barrier. "Effectively you would be destroying the fish populations of everything up the river system from the barrier. That is a major environmental downside."

MARINET questions MFA about Tyne Tunnel dredging disposal

The national Friends of the Earth legal department has written to the Marine and Fisheries Agency on behalf of Robert Latimer, a MARINET member, to establish whether an EIA has been done in respect of the sea disposal of the dredged material arising from the construction of the new Tyne Tunnel. To see letter, click here.

Science Reveals Heaviest Element Ever Discovered

This item has been forwarded to us from inner circles, with the advice that it is not one for the website. However, given the sensational nature of this scientific discovery, a MARINET member has requested its disclosure under the Freedom of Information Regulations. Accordingly, we have been compelled to publish.

Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction normally taking less than a second, to take from four days to four years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2-6 years. It does not decay, but undergoes a reorganisation in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and 20 deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes, not to mention multiple oxymorons.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. That hypothetical quantity might normally be called "critical mass" but, in this unique case it is known as "critical mess".

When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium (Am), another just-discovered element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

British trawler captured on film dumping a fishing by-catch angers Norway

Norwegian government coastguards have filmed the crew of the Prolific, a Shetland-based trawler, openly discarding more than 5,000 kg of cod and other dead white fish, or nearly 80% of its catch. Norwegian minister for fisheries and coastal affairs Helga Pedersen, speaking to angry fishing communities in northern Norway who had seen the film, has said she will press for a review of the EU fishing policy and that she wants to ban any boat discarding fish that have been caught in Norwegian waters. The film of the incident, which occurred on 2nd August and was reported in The Guardian on 13th August 2008.

It is illegal to discard fish in Norwegian waters, but boats are forced to do so in European Union waters if they have caught the wrong species of fish or fish that are too small. Last year the EU estimated that between 40% and 60% of all fish caught by trawlers in the North sea is discarded. The practice of dumping is widely recognised as unsustainable but inevitable given the present EU quota system. UK fish experts say the practice of discarding fish is common but has rarely been so dramatically documented. Opinions are split on whether the Prolific was discarding fish for which it had no quota, or whether it was "high-grading" its catch. This involves boats discarding low-value small fish to make room for high value larger fish.

In The Guardian report, Willie Mackenzie, Greenpeace fisheries campaigner is quoted "It is a disgrace. This practice is depleting populations that are already overfished and it is happening everywhere. All of these fish are perfectly marketable, and have been legally caught. But if you are a fisherman it makes more economic sense to take boat to market with the most saleable fish, so you discard the lowest value stuff."

In the same Guardian article Helga Pedersen, Norway's minister for fisheries and coastal affairs, is quoted "Discarding fish not only means a massive waste of food and potential income, it also leads to unrecorded catches, resulting in a poorer scientific basis for our management decisions. I want a requirement that all fish caught in Norwegian waters, also by foreign vessels, must be taken to port, regardless of which final port is used. We will introduce new requirements, as a condition for obtaining licenses to fish, that vessels cannot discard valuable fish caught here". And Reidar Kaarbø, an independent analyst of Norwegian government policy, comments "This must stop now. The EU community cannot be taken seriously if it allows this kind of behaviour. This is certainly not how to manage the world's resources."

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which provides scientific advice to governments on the size of fish populations, has repeatedly advised the EU that stocks of cod in the North Sea are much too low to be fished and has argued for no-go areas. However, every year the European government ministers override their advice and continue with a quota system. A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is quoted in The Guardian article: "Throwing dead fish back into the sea is a waste that nobody wants to see, but there is no easy answer. The UK is keen to ensure more effective and sustainable fisheries by reducing by-catch and discards, and the government is working closely with fishermen to achieve that."

European Environment Agency creates interactive map for Bathing Waters

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has created an interactive map for the public which displays the latest information on the water quality in bathing sites across Europe. The new map also allows the public to rate beaches and to share their comments with others. The EEA state in their Press Release, 30th July 2008 "Every year, millions of Europeans spend their summer vacations by coastal or inland waters. The quality of the bathing water at their destination can be a key factor in deciding where to go. Now with Eye on Earth (the interactive map), holidaymakers will not only be able to check the latest information available on the water quality at their possible destinations, but also read comments posted by others who have already been there.

Global Warming Threat to our Coastline

The Daily Mail of 7th August 2008 reports this item.

Temperatures could soar 4C in Britain putting coast at risk, warn top scientists

Britain should prepare for the consequences of a 4C rise in temperatures, one of the Government's chief scientific advisers said today. The UK and EU are attempting to limit global warming to no more than a 2C temperature rise above pre-industrial times to avoid dangerous climate change.

But Professor Bob Watson, the chief scientific adviser to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said there was a good chance that Britain will face a 4C rise. Soaring temperatures could lead to a retreat from the coast, Sir David King has warned. '"There is no doubt that we should aim to limit changes in the global mean surface temperature to 2C above pre-industrial" Prof Watson told The Guardian. "But given this is an ambitious target, and we don't know in detail how to limit greenhouse gas emissions to realise a 2C target, we should be prepared to adapt to 4C."

His concerns were echoed by the Government's former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King. He said that a two-and-half-year analysis on the implications for coastal defences had a major impact on government thinking about the effects of climate change, with officials even considering one day having to retreat from parts of Britain that it cannot protect from rising sea levels. "'No other single factor focused the minds of the Cabinet more than the analysis that I produced through that ... We begin to have to talk about ordered retreat from some areas of Britain because it becomes impossible to defend" he said.

The soaring temperatures would impact on agriculture, coastal erosion and flood protection. It would also put hundreds of millions of people in small islands and coastal cities such as London and New York at risk of flooding because of rising sea levels. To emphasise the impact of a 4C rise, the report states that we are now only around 5C warmer than in the last ice age.

Sir David warned that even with a comprehensive global deal to keep carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere at below 450 parts per million there is a 50 per cent likelihood that temperatures would exceed 2C and a 20 per cent probability they would exceed 3.5C. "Even if we get the best possible global agreement to reduce greenhouse gasses on any rational basis you should be preparing for a 20 per cent risk so I think Bob Watson is quite right to put up the figure of four degrees" he said.

Thoughts on abandoning our coastal defences

Libby Purves thoughtfully wrote the following column in The Times on November 13th 2007. Although now almost a year ago, it has more relevance today than ever.

Don't give up on sea defences

It is strange when the sun shines on days of meteorological crisis. It happened here in Suffolk after the '87 hurricane, glorious blue-and-golden days illuminating a chaotic landscape of fallen timber and sparking power lines. On Friday morning too it shone, as the storm surge drove great hammering, spouting fists of water up against sea walls, drowned quays and turned the A12 into a shining extension of the Blyth estuary. Early in the day the sea wall at Aldeburgh, a thin battlement between rising brown river and hammering waves, felt like the only place to be. There is fear and loss and inconvenience in these great natural events, but there is also exhilaration.

Exhilaration - and relief - should not be taken too far. It is true that nobody died and only a few homes were flooded (though the Broads were hit, bitterns may not nest next year and the Harbour Inn lost its kitchen). Most of those evacuated went home to dry houses. Helicopters and loudhailers proved unnecessary. We got away with it.

But the local fear now is of complacency, and that government will sit back with a sigh of relief and forget how close it came. The main surge went through at 3.30 in the morning at low tide; had it been six hours later, coinciding with high water, it would have been a catastrophe.

John Gummer, MP for Suffolk Coastal, is outspoken about the policy described on the Environment Agency document as "making space for water", and accuses it of deliberately writing off villages and land. A hasty denial yesterday from Defra said there is no general policy of this kind, but used the word "sustainable" and "prioritised" too often to comfort those who know perfectly well they are not priorities because population is scanty and farmland considered expendable. The Environment Agency admits that the funding constraint "... does mean withdrawing protection in rural coastal areas".

Mr Gummer calls it an immoral decision: "We have been defending this coastline for thousands of years and this is the first government to decide that we will give in. While Holland is defending every square inch, we are intending to give up large acreage of land which we desperately need for food security as well as houses... Could it be that there are no votes for them on the coastline?"

Be that as it may, he has a point. Whitehall's shrugging fatalism is not only upsetting to communities but out of date. Arable and grazing land, for decades seen as a luxury because imported food was cheap, is becoming something to treasure. The biofuel boom and the rising appetites of India and China for meat and milk are just beginning to bite. Giving up land - or letting it degenerate into marsh nature reserves - is less wise than it seemed ten years ago. So is the abandoning of housing land in Eastern counties with a rocketing EU immigrant population.

It is not cheering to those in poor, low-lying lonely areas to be told that they don't matter. Or even that their environment doesn't: there is considerable angst about what will become of our small rivers if defences are not maintained (last year the Environment Agency publicly gave up on the Blyth because "the cost of repairing defences outweighs the benefits").

Above all there is a general sense of frustration at the Olympian attitude from London. Landowners who live close to the problem all year round claim that the flood defences are in better condition than the Environment Agency claims. Sir Edward Greenwell, of Orford, says: "The defences are very robust. They have stood up well and we need to make clear that they are maintainable; we do not have to walk away from them." Another farmer observed that "the cost of maintaining these walls, which were built 300 years ago, is minimal compared with the money the agency has spent on consultants who recommend the defences be abandoned". Peter Boggis, the rebel of Easton Bavents, is fighting in the courts against the refusal by Natural England to let him go on maintaining a home-made sea wall near his home.

The thread running through all this is of anger and fear that distant decisions always overrule local feeling; and that Defra is no more fit to make decisions about sea defences than it proved fit to maintain a simple bit of pipeline that would have prevented the escape of foot-and-mouth disease from its own laboratory (which incompetence cost, incidentally, years' worth of coastal defence money).

Country people accept the inevitability of erosion. Our house sits a mile back (a shrinking mile) from the coast at Dunwich, once a great port city and now a hamlet. Farmers - not bureaucrats - will recognise the right time to abandon a grazing meadow that has become salt. These are practical people.

Not all the handling has been bad. The Environment Agency's early-warning system worked. The emergency services were ready. But unease persists: there is no real accord between the local authorities and the Environment Agency. One comment by a member of the public in Sudbourne village hall last week had a universal resonance: "The agency are servants of us, we are not servants of them. We will not be dictated to." It wasn't nicely printed consultation documents and a dawn Cobra meeting and the smiling Mrs Follett popping up for a photo-op at Great Yarmouth docks that saved us on Friday. It was a lucky tide and a wind shift.

Of course one day the sea will win; but Mr Brown is looking for a motto and I have one to commend to him. It is borrowed from the Mississippi River Engineers at Vicksburg, who work diligently to prevent their rowdy charge from flooding settlements and leaving others stranded. They too know that the river will win in the end, but they bear on their crest the one-word motto: Essayons. Let us try.

Record-sized Crab caught in Lyme Bay

The largest recorded edible crab has been caught in Lyme Bay, Dorset. It weighed 17lb and had a shell width of 12in, with each of its massive claws being as big as a man's hand. The previously largest crab of this species had a carapace 11in wide and is in the Museum National d'Histoire, Paris. The Lyme Bay crab will not however be going to a museum. It has been eaten. The catch underlines the marine conservation importance of Lyme Bay, 60 square miles of which have just been granted conservation protection by the UK Government.

Company established to sell Cornish sea salt

The Cornish Sea Salt Co, which has been operating for less than six months on the Lizard peninsula - mainland Britain's most southerly tip - is aiming to produce 150 tonnes of salt this year and eventually build up to 500 tonnes annually. The business has been established by Tony Fraser, and people who have tasted the salt have praised it for its strength. There are two other well-known sea salts produced in Britain: Maldon sea salt, which is produced from water drawn from the Blackwater estuary in Essex, and Halen Môn sea salt, which uses seawater from the Menai strait in north Wales.

New idea for wave power generation

A two year project at the University of Southampton is researching the generation of electricity using a giant rubber tube closed at both ends, filled with water and anchored in the sea with one end facing

Latest News

UK Bathing Waters : 2009 compliance (from last years analyses)

Threat to Coral

The Eastern Daily Press of 10th June '09 published the following report retailed by Tara Greaves

Norfolk scientists reveal coral threat

UK Government says NO to highly protected marine reserves in UK Marine Bill

MARINET presents evidence that offshore dredging will cause beach erosion

Marine Reserves EDM approaches the "top ten"

The Day that Norfolk Shuddered

Visualising the Dredged Volume

Public Consultation on Environment Agency Strategy Plans!

Seabed Recovery following Dredging

Wave energy machine approaching completion at Lowestoft

Coastal Erosion could cost billions

Denuded Beach

Severn Tidal Power Consultation

New tidal turbine - CORMAT

Portuguese wave energy project halted by "credit crunch"

Overfishing to wipe out bluefin tuna

Communities help tackle coastal erosion

Plankton rôle in Climate Change

A Campaigning Victory For Public Pressure

Map showing the 25 square mile area of Norfolk (outlined in red) recommended by English Nature (now Natural England), to be flooded by the sea in their original report.

Offshore Aggregate Dredging and Coastal Erosion

EFFECTS OF MARINE SAND EXPLOITATION ON COASTAL EROSION AND DEVELOPMENT OF RATIONAL SAND PRODUCTION CRITERIA written by Emre N. Otay, Paul A. Work and Osman S. Börekçi

MARINET's response to MFA proposed amendments

Prologue

Norwegian CO2 sequestration is "working"

Monitoring

Important

European Commission takes legal Action over UK UWWD failure

The EC is proceeding with legal action action against the UK for its failure to meet the demands of the Urban Waste Water Directive 91/271/EEC. The Press Release referring appears below.

United Kingdom: Commission to continue legal action for waste water pollution

Legal Process

Robo-fish — with chips!

CLBA want Managed Retreat reviewed

The full report with more detail is to be found in the Eastern Daily Press of 24th March '09 under 'Rural businesses challenge flood policy'.

The Parliamentary Opposition Steps In

Coastal erosion campaign stepped up

A12 upgrade demand over Sizewell C

Threats to East Anglia

This item by Anthony Carroll entitled 'New warning on sea levels' appeared in the Eastern Daily Press of 9th March '09

Losing the best of Norfolk

Carbon emissions creating acidic oceans not seen since dinosaurs

Scientists to issue stark warning over dramatic new sea level figures

Letter from America — Dredging and Erosion — Comparisons of Mis-management

Phantom oil spills may be Red Tide foam

Read the full article at Ars Technica 3rd March 2009

Our mobile beaches

The rest of this article can be seen by visiting here.

North Norfolk attempts moderations to make ‘Managed Retreat’ acceptable

The full story is entitled "Help for Norfolk communities blighted by erosion"

Evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group

Review of UK Marine Aggregate Extraction Activities

Scientists repeat: "Sea levels rising faster than expected"

Reports on Offshore Dredging Impacts in ‘Coastal Observatory’

Nudists no longer ‘beached’!

Britain's Best Beach

Coming Sand and Gravel Conferences

MARINET Backing from Dr.Ian Gibson MP

NORFOLK MP BACKS CAMPAIGN TO SAVE EAST ANGLIA COASTLINE

MMO to be Located in Tyneside

Latest Happisburgh erosion

New pictures highlight coastal erosion

Google Ocean

Emissions from Shipping

Terry Trelawny-Gower has worries of the high emissions produced from shipping, and contributes his thoughts and concerns as follows.

Particulates Really Matter

Clownfish lost at sea due to rising CO2 levels

Global warming could lead to ocean dead zones

World's toughest wind turbines set to make début off Germany's coast

Nominations open for new nuclear sites

Five projects on Severn tidal power shortlist

Images from the DECC consultation website

Poor Portugal!

Further response by MARINET to AODA Scoping Report

EU wants "zero waste and zero emissions" target for shipping

EU says it will protect the Arctic from increased exploitation

EU proposes "quotas" for sea anglers

MARINET member writes a history of the US Naval "ghost ships"

Norwegian CO₂ sequestration is "working"

Clownfish lost at sea due to rising CO₂ levels

New study claims seas are absorbing less CO₂

Growing concerns over ocean acidification due to CO₂