14 Mar 2023

Cities are artificially lit to allow humans to make use of the night. This light pollution means that stars are often barely visible in urban skies.  Urban development in coastal areas is increasingly exposing marine ecosystems to artificial light. This exposure is particularly acute in and near some of the world’s largest coastal cities and […]

07 Mar 2023

Kittiwakes, puffins and razorbills are some of England’s most treasured seabirds that could benefit from proposed measures to ban sandeel fishing, Defra has announced today (Tuesday 7 March). Sandeels are small, eel like fish that are a vital food source to vulnerable seabirds, commercially important fish species such as haddock and whiting, and sea mammals […]

06 Mar 2023

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and the Tourism, Mairi Gougeon has told Scottish Labour MSP for Central Scotland, Monica Lennon, that the government has no plans to introduce a three-nautical mile limit. When the Scottish Labour MSP for Central Scotland asked in a written question: “To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to […]

06 Mar 2023

New research now shows that seabirds are suffering from a plastic-induced illness named ‘plasticosis’, the Natural History Museum has said. Rather than being caused by viruses or bacteria, ‘plasticosis’ is caused by small pieces of plastic which inflame the digestive tract. Over time, persistent inflammation causes tissues to become scarred and deformed, with knock-on effects on growth, digestion […]

06 Mar 2023

Villagers at Holy Island have rejoiced after HPMA plan was scrapped, the BBC have reported. The government had been exploring designating the area off the coast of Northumberland a Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMA), which would have seen fishing halted. Voicing their relief, campaigners said the news was “still sinking in”. Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan […]

06 Mar 2023

As reported by The Times, over the next few months a company wants to dump tonnes of minerals used to make laxatives in the sea as a way to fight climate change. Planetary Technologies believes the minerals dump in the ocean could increase its alkalinity which in turn will remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The company […]

06 Mar 2023

Delegates to a global conference on saving the world’s oceans pledged $19 billion, the host country Panama said.   The total included a $6 billion commitment from the United States, announced on Thursday by White House climate envoy John Kerry. Panamanian deputy foreign minister Yill del Carmen Otero announced the total pledge figure at the two-day […]

06 Mar 2023

The Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) has launched a new project which aims to bring together the Marine and Coastal Science community in the UK. In a press release the IES says: ‘This year-long project, ‘Turning the Tide: Systems thinking for a sustainable ocean’, will champion a systems thinking approach to issues affecting the marine […]