Northern Ireland MCZ’s The public consultation is open to everyone who wishes to respond and the full consultation document together with instructions on how individuals can submit comments is available online. The four sites are Carlingford, Outer Belfast Lough, Rathlin and Watefoot. Strangford Lough is already an MCZ. The consultation will close on 11 March […]
Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) are transforming the face of inshore fisheries and conservation management. AIFCAs Since their inception in 2011, the IFCAs have demonstrated a “can do” attitude and sought to deliver value for money by managing stakeholder led decisions to support local communities. At the same time the IFCAs are working towards […]
COAST ‘It is not hard to see the benefits of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) – for the marine environment itself, and also for all of us who depend on it for food, leisure and jobs – so it was disappointing when leaders of the mobile fishing lobby launched a well-funded campaign against the Scottish Government’s […]
Mark Costello It is with great sadness that I convey the news that Dr Bill Ballantine has died. He was the first and longest serving Director of Leigh Marine Laboratory. He contributed significantly to the creation of the (New Zealand) Marine Reserves Act and establishment of New Zealand’s first marine reserve at Leigh. He became […]
Three reports of interest to those concerned with MPAs and marine biodiversity: 1.Marine protected Areas – Smart Investments in Ocean Health – report WWF Valuing MPAs – some useful material on economics of MPAs and high cost benefit ratios associated with them. http://ocean.panda.org/media/WWF_Marine_Protected_Areas_LR_SP.pdf 2. Report explores recovery of habitats and species in Scotland’s […]
COAST ‘Despite considerable pressure from the mobile fishing lobby, who seem intent on ruining the Scottish Government’s best efforts to create a well-managed network of MPAs, Richard Lochhead is determined Scotland will have a credible MPA network. At the recent Inshore Fisheries Conference (October 2015) he said ‘Scotland’s seas are not owned by any one […]
The European Commission has published a report on the progress in establishing Marine Protected Areas (as required by Article 21 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC). View the report at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/marine/eu-coast-and-marine-policy/implementation/pdf/marine_protected_areas.pdf.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, announced on 28 September 2015 that his nation plans to create a South Pacific marine sanctuary the size of France, saying it would protect one of the world’s pristine ocean environments. The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary would cover an area of 620,000 square kilometers about 1,000 kilometers off New Zealand’s […]