Keith Hiscock: This is how you do it! Excellent report from the Skomer team – really helping us to understand natural (and probably not so natural) fluctuations in species and climate etc.

Skomer marine Conservation Zone – Project Status Report (Evidence Report 251)

This is the seventeenth project status report produced by the Skomer Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ). It summarises the progress and current status of monitoring projects in the Skomer MCZ during 2017. These projects not only provide the evidence needed to report on the condition of the Skomer MCZ itself, but make an important contribution to the evidence used in assessing the condition and conservation status of the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation, within which the MCZ is situated. Skomer MCZ long-term data, biological as well as human use, has also been used in establishing and reporting on biological indicators for UK requirements under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Specific cases where Skomer MCZ data has been used to support initiatives other than those directly linked to the MCZ are detailed in individual project summaries. The project status tables in Section 4 provide a summary of all established monitoring projects in the MCZ. Section 6 details biological projects that were worked on during 2017 and a summary of the results to date. Section 7 provides a summary of the oceanographic and meteorological surveillance projects. To read more of this fascinating report click here