14 Sep 2015

NOC – Guardian ‘Oceanographers claim grainy pictures showing world’s largest animal 250 miles off the coast are first since it was hunted to near-extinction. The great creature surfaced from the murk of a deep-sea canyon, lingered just long enough for observers to grab a few pictures, and then vanished from sight into the fog and […]

14 Sep 2015

Royal HaskoningDHV  MCZ Assessment Guidance  Royal HaskoningDHV has produced a set of recommendations for taking a plan or project through the MCZ assessment process. In November 2013 the first Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) were designated. A second tranche of MCZs was consulted on this year and these sites are currently being considered for designation. MCZs […]

10 Sep 2015

A new online portal provides a list of commercial fishing gear and selectivity devices including illustrations and links to scientific trials and reports. Aimed predominantly at fishermen, fishery managers, policy makers and environmental groups, it is hoped the information will provide the industry with some solutions ahead of the next phase of the Landing Obligation […]

10 Sep 2015

The paper looks again at: The underlying principles and language being used in an attempt to standardise usage They provide a definition defining cumulative effects assessment as a systematic procedure for identifying and evaluating the significance of effects from multiple sources / activities and for providing an estimate on the overall expected impact to inform […]

10 Sep 2015

MMO ‘Quantification of underwater noise is a current and evolving topic in marine environmental science that is relevant to marine plan policy development. It is recognised that there is currently insufficient data to support a quantitative assessment of underwater noise levels and its impact on the natural environment at marine plan or national scale. This […]

10 Sep 2015

The House of Lords Select Committee on National Policy for the Built Environment has published its Call for Evidence. Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Committee by 6 October 2015. http://www.parliament.uk/built-environment The new House of Lords Committee on National Policy for the Built Environment has today issued its call for written […]

10 Sep 2015

Measuring it is one thing – what to do about it is proving controversial http://www.theoceancleanup.com/ Eco magazine ‘The Ocean Cleanup successfully concluded its Mega Expedition with the arrival of three of the boats, including the 171-foot R/V Ocean Starr, in the port of San Francisco on 23 August 2015. Volunteer crews on 30 boats have […]

07 Sep 2015

This blog is taken from the SusDrains Newsletter to sign up for this go to: http://www.susdrain.org/  A number of years waiting in the wings, the SuDS Standards finally made centre stage, but perhaps now not in the manner that many of us had anticipated. The release of the ministerial statement and updates to national planning […]