Under the Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations 2023, UK-registered fishing vessels will be allowed to target picked / spiny dogfish (spurdog) as of 01 April 2023 in both UK and EU waters. Following ICES advice that the Northeast Atlantic spurdog stock is recovering and can support a significant level of landings for 2023 and 2024. Under […]
Thousands of tonnes of dead shellfish were washed up on the shore from the North Sea on Teesside and the Yorkshire coast in October 2021. So far there has been no clear explanation for the deaths, but an independent panel appointed by Defra indicated in January that the probable cause was “a novel pathogen”. […]
Oysters from south Wales are set to be transferred into the River Hamble as part of plans to restore marine habitats across the Solent, the Southern Daily Echo reports. Blue Marine Foundation, alongside the River Hamble Harbour Authority and contractors Jenkins Marine, laid the foundations for the largest restoration reef in the Solent last week. They laid […]
Mexico has acknowledged that it faces sanctions from the international wildlife body CITES for not doing enough to protect the vaquita marina, a small porpoise that is the world’s most endangered marine mammal. The sanctions have not yet been announced, but they could make it difficult for Mexico to export some regulated animal and plant products like […]
Deep-sea mining negotiations closed in Kingston, Jamaica, with member countries of the Council hotly debating but failing to agree on a procedure to handle applications for provisional licenses after a deadline expires on 9 July 2023. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) are meeting intensively in 2023 with the aim of agreeing and adopting deep-sea mining […]
Defra and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) have released reports which review progress made in meeting the aims of the East Inshore and Offshore Marine Plans and the UK Marine Policy Statement. The East Marine Plans’ inshore area has a coastline that stretches from Flamborough Head in Yorkshire to Felixstowe town in Suffolk. The offshore area covers from […]
Seafood businesses and marine organisations in Scotland’s coastal communities are set to benefit from a new year of funding through Marine Fund Scotland. A total of up to £14 million of funding will be available in 2023/24 to encourage the sustainable use of marine resources for economic growth, support livelihoods and jobs whilst preserving the […]
A clean-up operation is under way after about 200 barrels of reservoir fluid including oil leaked into the water at Poole Harbour in Dorset. A major incident was declared when a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco. There have been reports that leaked oil is visible on the surface of water as the […]