04 Jul 2023
Proposals for a series of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMA) have been scrapped, the Scottish Government has confirmed. Proposals had previously been put forward to create HPMAs in at least 10% of Scotland’s waters – which would have restricted fishing and other activities. Plans to deliver increased protection for Scotland’s marine environment will be revised, […]
04 Jul 2023
The Welsh Government has opened its Tidal Lagoon Challenge Fund. The fund is worth £750,000 and will support innovative research that will help to reduce or remove the barriers that are preventing tidal range schemes being developed. The fund was first announced in March at the Marine Energy Wales conference by the First Minister and […]
04 Jul 2023
Countries from around the North-East Atlantic met in Oslo, Norway for the 2023 meeting of the OSPAR Commission for the Protection and Conservation of the North-East Atlantic. OSPAR Contracting Parties agreed to extend its largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) to include the seabed and a number of additional species and habitats, such as coral gardens […]
04 Jul 2023
Profits from the British monarchy’s multibillion-pound legacy portfolio of land and property holdings have surged 42 per cent. The Crown Estate, which owns the seabed surrounding Wales, Northern Ireland and England up to 12 nautical miles, announced record £442.6 million net revenue profit, £129.9 million higher than last year. This increase primarily reflects option fee […]
04 Jul 2023
The Shark Fins Act has passed into UK law (29 June). The Act will ban the import and export of detached shark fins, including all products containing shark fins such as tinned shark fin soup. As reported by the UK Government in a news release: ‘Shark finning is the cruel and wasteful practice of removing […]
27 Jun 2023
Defra have announced in a policy paper that the UK will trial new small-scale commercial Bluefin tuna fishery. For 2023 the UK has 65 tonnes of bluefin tuna quota, an increase on the quota in 2021 and 2022. The UK will use 39 tonnes of this quota to trial a new small-scale commercial fishery, which […]
27 Jun 2023
A decision taken by Marine Scotland last year to vary sea fishing licences for vessels using methods believed to be harmful to marine life has been branded unlawful by a judge. The Court of Session in Scotland has ruled that the Scottish Government’s current approach to licencing of scallop dredging, and bottom-trawling is “unlawful”. Lord […]
27 Jun 2023
A potential migratory corridor for north Atlantic humpback whales has been identified off the coast of Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland through a wide-ranging study of whale song. Male humpback whales produce complex, structured, culturally transmitted songs. Scientists working on the multi-agency Collaborative Oceanography and Monitoring for Protected Areas and Species project (COMPASS) have detected […]
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