The Welsh Government, as the marine planning authority, has produced an aquaculture Sector Locational Guidance (SLG), implementing Welsh National Marine Plan (WNMP) sector supporting policy AQU 01b (Aquaculture (supporting)), which encourages a collaborative approach to understanding opportunities for the sustainable development of the sector. This document represents an ongoing process. It builds on initial work undertaken […]
A Cornwall Council project looking at the potential of seagrass in helping to tackle climate change has revealed one of the biggest seagrass meadows ever found in UK waters. The council commissioned the University of Exeter and environmental researchers Ecospan to carry out surveys off the coast near Penzance and Falmouth to assess how effective seagrass is at growing […]
Ørsted is partnering with Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts to help restore the biodiversity around the Humber Estuary. This flagship project will invest more than £2.5m to restore parts of the Humber on an ambitious scale not seen before, through the planting of 3 hectares (ha) of saltmarsh and 4 ha of seagrass, and the […]
The European Commission is proposing the first-ever legislation that explicitly targets the restoration of Europe’s nature, to repair the 80% of European habitats that are in poor condition, and to bring back nature to all ecosystems, from forest and agricultural land to marine, freshwater and urban ecosystems. Under this proposal for a Nature Restoration Law, legally binding targets for nature […]
The Guardian has reported that it has been given consultation details about the next generation of marine nature reserves in England. The Guardian report states: ‘Five highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) could be created by the government to ban all fishing and rewild the sea, the Guardian has learned. The new generation of marine nature […]
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) has published a briefing paper on deep-sea mining. Discussing the significant reputational, regulatory, and operational risks associated with plans to mine the deep seabed of minerals, the paper addresses how financial institutions should respond to the deep-sea mining sector. It also lays out how financial institutions wishing […]
The report was developed in collaboration with WWF, RSPB, the NFFO, North Sea Wildlife Trusts and the University of Hull. The news release from the Marine Conservation Society states that the main findings of the report are: Technology to reduce harmful fuel use and cut emissions already exists today, and many fishers have shown interest […]
A batch of baby lobsters has been released into the sea on the Yorkshire coast to kickstart a scheme aimed at replenishing dwindling stocks, the BBC has reported. They were raised from eggs by the Whitby Lobster Hatchery which aims to rear 100,000 juveniles every year. The boost to local populations would “ensure the sustainability […]