06 Jan 2015

CFP Deal –  Business as usual – quota advice still ignored Conservationists took a rather different view from the Government over the 2015 CFP deal complaining that it was business as usual with politicians ignoring scientific advice on quotas – read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/16/fishing-quotas-defy-scientists-advice Defra ‘Deal strikes the right balance between supporting business and conserving fish […]

06 Jan 2015

Earth faces sixth ‘great extinction’ with 41% of amphibians set to go the way of the dodo Analysis for prestigious Nature magazine sounds alarm on the way that human activity, from overfishing to agriculture, is forcing a vast number of species to vanish from the wild. A stark depiction of the threat hanging over the […]

06 Jan 2015

This book by Caveen, Polunin, Gray and Stead presents a critical analysis of MPAs in relation to marine resource management. It would be fair to say that these authors also represent the skeptical side of the scientific argument re MPAs. This book will stoke the debate about the objectives of MPAs. Plenty of material here […]

16 Dec 2014

A wealth of information and headlines on the Ofwat website: http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/pricereview/pr14/finaldet Comment – Guardian: ‘Water bills to smash £400 a year barrier despite regulator taking action Ofwat moves to cut bills by 5% – but customers will not see this as they will still rise with inflation The average household water bills will rise to […]

16 Dec 2014

The Scottish and United Kingdom Governments have agreed that a marine plan for Scotland’s inshore waters and a marine plan covering Scottish offshore waters will be published in one document and will be collectively referred to as the ‘National Marine Plan’. LINK: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/seamanagement/national

16 Dec 2014

Abstract ‘Plastic pollution is ubiquitous throughout the marine environment, yet estimates of the global abundance and weight of floating plastics have lacked data, particularly from the Southern Hemisphere and remote regions. Here we report an estimate of the total number of plastic particles and their weight floating in the world’s oceans from 24 expeditions (2007–2013) […]

10 Dec 2014

Details of the spending on 13 Government funded schemes As a part of the Autumn Statement Government (Defra) have announced 13 major schemes on their website. https://www.gov.uk/government/announcements?departments%5B%5D=department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs Making flood defence consents part of the environmental permitting framework We want to know what you think about our proposals to change flood defence consents by including them […]

10 Dec 2014

Open government is the simple yet powerful idea that institutions work better for citizens when they are transparent, engaging and accountable. If you’re interested in opening up government budgets, contracts, datasets, decision-making, information, policymaking or public services, we invite you to join the UK Open Government Forum. Click here: http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/ At the centre of open government […]