» Marine Reserves



Sussex Wildlife Trust launches Sussex by the Sea conservation project

The Sussex Wildlife Trust reports, September 2019 Newsletter: This summer I went paddle-boarding off the coast of our nature reserve at Seaford Head. On the cliffs above me I could hear the calls of gulls and kittiwakes. The sea was flat and clear, and I could see crabs vying for territory, anemones swaying with the […]

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When is a Marine Protected Area real or an illusion?

Marinet reports: The UK Government has announced, 31st May 2019, that the Marine Conservation Zone Network for England — part of the UK’s “Blue Belt” programme of marine protected areas (MPAs) has been extended by 41 new sites, bringing the overall total to 91 sites. The UK government’s news release states: “With 50 zones already […]

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Sicily’s Aeolian archipelago should be a MPA, says Oceana

Oceana news release, 22nd May 2019: Recognition of the high biodiversitybiodiversity Biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals. value of the sea surrounding the Aeolian Islands goes back decades, with the region first being formally identified by the Italian government in the 1980s as a potential […]

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Is the new proposed High Seas Treaty up to the job? Marinet commentary

We provide here a link to a Marinet commentary, April 2019, on the publication 30X30 A Blueprint for Ocean Protection published by Greenpeace (Germany) and Edinburgh, York and Oxford Universities (UK).   The Greenpeace and associated universities publication proposes the creation of marine protected areas covering 30% of the oceans by 2030 as a central […]

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Update on High Seas Treaty proposals and negotiations

Sciencemag.org reports, 3rd April 2019: No flag can claim the high seas, but many nations exploit them. As a result, life in the two-thirds of the oceans beyond any country’s territorial waters faces many threats that are largely unregulated, including over-fishing and the emerging deep-sea mining industry. Now, nations are negotiating the first-ever high-seas conservation treaty, which the […]

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No fishing MPA created around Ascension Island in south Atlantic

Cleanseas.org reports, March 2019: Ascension Island, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is getting a new marine protected area twice the size of the United Kingdom (UK). Full protection of 443,000 square kilometres of ocean around the British overseas territory will safeguard green turtles, swordfish, sharks, tuna and marlin as well as frigatebirds and terns. UN Environment […]

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Coral reefs – can the Honduran reefs survive over-fishing, climate change and pollution?

The Guardian reports, 27th December 2017: “I’m like one of those old-school gangsters,” says Ralston Brooks, a park ranger on the island of Roatán off the coast of Honduras. “If you’re going to do it, do it. Pop a cap.” The 37-year-old boat captain says he faces regular death threats from local fishermen because of […]

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Wildlife Trusts call for new UK Marine Strategy following Brexit

The Wildlife Trusts, October 2017: A unique chance for the UK to become a world leader in marine management. Seize the moment! In 2019 the UK plans to leave the European Union. While it is important that we retain existing EU law through the Withdrawal Bill and anticipated Fisheries and Agriculture Bills, this departure is […]

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Antarctica: Greenpeace and EU to campaign for “largest marine protected area on Earth”

Greenpeace Press Release, 27th October 2017: Greenpeace has launched a global campaign for an Antarctic Sanctuary, covering 1.8 million square kilometres of ocean, to protect whales, penguins and other wildlife. Following a failure to agree strong marine protection in the East Antarctic [Footnote1], Greenpeace has called for governments to show “greater vision and ambition” in […]

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Pacific Remote Islands MPA under threat

Sciencemag.org reports, 21st September 2017: Marine scientists are warning that if the Trump administration rescinds fishing protections around eight Pacific islands, the United States will lose one of its best laboratories for measuring how a warming climate affects marine life. A proposal from Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, leaked to The Washington Post, argues […]

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Marine Reserves: “protected should mean truly protected”, says marine scientist

National Geographic reports, 13th June 2017: New analysis of previous studies shows that biomassbiomass The amount of living matter. This is therefore a different measure to numbers of organisms. So, for example, there is much more biomass in 1 elephant than there is in 1000 fleas and there may be more biomass in 100 large […]

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New archaeological surveys being conducted on Goodwin Sands, Kent

A south-western strip of the southern half of the Goodwin Sands, offshore from Dover and Deal, is the subject of an application to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) by the Dover Harbour Board to dredge 3.75 million tonnes of sand to use as infill material in a reconstruction project for the Port of Dover. The […]

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C.O.A.S.T. offers a UK election marine agenda which the politicians largely failed to debate

 The Community of Arran Seabed Trust asks in its June Newsletter: Do our politicians care about coastal communities and healthy seas? Time to embrace sustainable alternatives: Little has been said during the election about one of the biggest issues facing coastal communities — the health of the marine environment. Ironically, only Donald Trump has succeeded in putting […]

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Whitsand Bay campaigners win decision against Rame Head sea dumping site

The Plymouth Herald reports, 6th March 2017: Campaigners have won an unprecedented victory to stop dredgers dumping silt next to a marine beauty spot. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has announced that dumping will no longer be allowed off Rame Head, in Whitsand Bay. Instead, the agency has designated a new disposal site in deeper […]

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Ocean Cleanup Project says engineering advances for plastic recovery will be tested in 2017

The Ocean Cleanup Project, Netherlands, stated in press releases dated 3rd and 11th May 2017:  The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch foundation developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, has announced it will start extracting plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within the next 12 months. The Ocean Cleanup has further announced that […]

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Parliament concerned by UK Government’s handling of MCZs and MPAs

The House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee published its report Marine Protected Areas Revisited on 25th April 2017, advising that: The Marine Protected Areas Revisited report has found Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are not being effectively managed, and the Government needs to do more to protect vulnerable marine habitats, features and species once a site […]

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Marinet makes submission to Welsh Government’s MPA public inquiry

Marinet has responded, February 2017, to the formal questionnaire issued by the Welsh Assembly aimed at enquiring about the effectiveness of management of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Wales. Marinet’s full response can be seen here. The objectives of the Welsh Assembly inquiry are: To assess the management of Welsh marine protected areas with a […]

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Coral die-back in the Pacific due to US war programme tests, says scientist

Terry Lilley reports, 13th February 2017: As a scientist we are trained to present facts. Good, bad or ugly. If you have been following my reporting (like 2 million other folks have been) over the last four years about the rapidly dying coral reefs along the north shore of Kauai then you may want to […]

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George Monbiot presents the case for marine reserves with no fishing

George Monbiot writes, The Guardian 4th February 2017: I believe we possess a ghost psyche: a set of capacities that helped secure our survival in more dangerous times, but that now are vestigial. I picture this as a seam of intense emotion, buried so deeply in our minds that we can seldom find it. I […]

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Marine Protected Areas can be a reinvigorating force, says C.O.A.S.T.

The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (C.O.A.S.T.) reports 1st February 2017: When underwater photographer Richard Shucksmith visited us a few months ago he was impressed with Arran’s sea life, but even more with local people’s knowledge and support of Arran’s No Take Zone (NTZ) and Marine Protected Area (MPA): “Getting ready for a dive on […]

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