27 Feb 2024

Members of the public are now invited to participate in a consultation to support the roll-out of potentially 27 new English bathing water sites. The two-week consultation will be administrated by the Environment Agency (EA) as part of the government’s plan to improve water quality across England. If designated, sites will receive regular water monitoring […]

27 Feb 2024

The Secretary of State must prepare a statutory report into the conduct and operation of the ten Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA’s) every four years, which must be laid before Parliament. This third report covers the period from September 2018 to September 2022.  The report will assess the IFCA’s against their five high level […]

27 Feb 2024

A new Nature Restoration law has been adopted which sets a target for the EU to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. The law received 329 votes in favour, 275 against and 24 abstentions, a margin larger than initially expected. The […]

27 Feb 2024

On behalf of Defra, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) are administrating the final round of the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS). Projects developing England’s catching, processing and aquaculture sectors, and those enhancing the marine environment can now apply to access the FaSS pot of £6 million match funding. The funding is available for both new […]

27 Feb 2024

An investment of €233m to fund 12 European environmental and climate projects was announced by the European Commission on 22 February 2024. As part of the EU’s long-term LIFE programme, Ireland is to receive €15.14m of funding to expand and enforce a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) with its waters. The 12 Europe-wide strategic […]

27 Feb 2024

English fishers impacted by the recent closure of the UK pollack fisheries will now be eligible for fast tracked financial grants through the re-opened £6m Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS). Following EU fishery negotiations, the UK government set the pollack Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for 2024 to zero following concerns about the population stocks, permitting […]

27 Feb 2024

  The government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands has announced plans to introduce significant enhancements to marine protection in the Southern Ocean. The announcement of an additional 166,000km2 of ‘No Take Zones’, covering an area eight times the size of Wales, will result in 449,000km2of highly biodiverse marine habitat being closed to all […]