18 Jun 2024

The COAST-R Network is part funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and DEFRA under their Resilient Coastal Communities and Seas programme and is part of a £14.8M investment in place-based research projects aiming to enhance resilience, wellbeing and sustainability across the UK. Cross-UK project partners Headed by Professor Briony McDonagh at the University of […]

18 Jun 2024

Sweden is set to become the second EU country, following Greece, to ban bottom fishing in marine protected areas (MPAs). Sweden has committed to go one step further by banning bottom trawling in all its territorial waters. At a press conference, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his ministers announced the government’s intention to implement this […]

18 Jun 2024

Scottish firms Ocean Kinetics and Green Marine (UK) have partnered to decommission OpenHydro’s tidal energy platform in the Orkney Islands. The project involves removing a steel superstructure and cutting steel piles at European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC) Fall of Warness test site, where OpenHydro developed tidal turbine technology.     Ocean Kinetics is providing divers, […]

18 Jun 2024

The 10 Vision 2030 White Papers, each focussing on a specific Ocean Decade Challenger represent a collaborative effort to develop the science we need for the ocean we want by 2030. Twenty co-chairs and more than 150 experts have worked over a year to assess current user needs, identified priority datasets, and highlight gaps in […]

18 Jun 2024

The EU Council has officially adopted the Nature Restoration Law, marking the first major piece of legislation aimed at restoring nature in the past thirty years. The regulation allows for the restoration of marine habitats, strengthening biodiversity and climate resilience. After months negotiations between the EU Council and the European Parliament, Environment ministers adopted the Nature […]

18 Jun 2024

The European Council – an institution of the 27-member European Union which defines the general political direction and priorities of the EU – has adopted a decision to conclude the United Nations agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), also known as the ‘High Seas Treaty’. With this decision, the EU is now ready to formally deposit […]

15 Jun 2024

Iceland’s government has issued a licence to hunt whales. The licence for the 2024 hunting season allows the Hvalur company to kill 128 fin whales. The government said the company was now permitted to hunt “99 whales in the Greenland/West Iceland region and 29 whales in the East Iceland/Faroe Islands region, totalling 128 whales”. A […]

11 Jun 2024

Following the ceremonies of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron hosted the President of the United States Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Paris for a State visit. The two presidents reaffirmed several joint policies and initiatives, including those on Plastic pollution, Biodiversity and Ocean Protection. An […]