UK marine policy statement MMO/Defra ‘This Marine Policy Statement (MPS) is the framework for preparing Marine Plans and taking decisions affecting the marine environment.  The Marine Policy Statement will contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom marine area. It has been prepared and adopted for the purposes of section 44 of […]

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I came across this news piece on the NFFO website whilst looking for their views on the Greenpeace Dogger bank action (nothing yet). It reminded me of the Yes Minister episode where Sir Humphrey explains to the Minister how you discredit a report. (Interestingly interspersed with Australian politicians arguing why they shouldn’t act on climate […]

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Nature – Carbon Management in Shelf Seas ‘Accounting guidelines exist for the recording of carbon flows in terrestrial and coastal ecosystems. Shelf sea sediments, while considered an important carbon store, have yet to receive comparable scrutiny. Here, we explore whether effective management of carbon stocks accumulating in shelf seas could contribute towards a nation’s greenhouse […]

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Thanks to Sue Gubbay for giving me the key words ‘Anti-trawling reefs’ and pointing me in the right direction. Greenpeace hasn’t doesn’t done anything new in dropping the boulders in the Dogger Bank SAC. If you type ‘Anti-trawling Reefs’ into your favourite search engine you will see lots of scientific reports on this and their […]

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As it goes through its second reading in the House of Commons the Fisheries Bill has lost another amendment that was a critical test of building a system of “world leading fisheries management”. First it was having sustainability as a prime objective of the Fisheries Bill that was dropped and now an amendment that would […]

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Activists on the Greenpeace ship Esperanza have started to place granite blocks on the seabed inside the Dogger Bank protected area in the North Sea to prevent bottom trawling. This follows on from their investigation which found industrial bottom trawlers systematically breaking the law by switching of their Automatic Information System (AIS) while fishing on […]

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New study by ABPmer for Natural Resources Wales to understand the role marine habitats play in climate change mitigation. Click here. The research confirmed that marine habitats in Wales, such as saltmarshes and seagrass beds, can lock up huge amounts of carbon every year; the volume of carbon they can store is similar to those […]

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The effort to promote recycling has been too successful. That is the argument being made by some environmentalists, as they point to a perception among consumers that if they carefully sort their glass, paper and plastic, they aren’t polluting the planet. “The message about recycling is so positive that it becomes an incentive to consider […]

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