14 Nov 2016

Fishing Focus The last Fishing Focus came out in May before the EU referendum. Reading this you might be forgiven for wondering whether it took place at all. It is well worth going through this Fishing Focus in detail because it highlights a range of items from the UK’s position on deep sea fishing to […]

07 Nov 2016

Consultation on the Draft South Marine Plans: The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is delighted to announce that the consultation on the Draft South Marine Plans will take place be between 7 November 2016 and 27 January 2017. The consultation gives interested parties the chance to share their views and opinions on the Draft marine plan […]

31 Oct 2016

Natural England commenced a public consultation regarding three potential Special Protection Areas (pSPAs) around England. These sites are: Solent & Dorset Coast pSPA which is a new site for foraging common, little and Sandwich terns on the south coast. Greater Wash which is a new site on the east coast for wintering red-throated diver, common […]

17 Oct 2016

‘Information is power’ Two ways of looking at the UK’s fisheries statistics; MMO produce the year on year details stats on UK fisheries, whilst in Shetland Ian Napier has produced a comparison of UK and EU fleet catches for the SFA. Not surprisingly the report has provided ammunition to fishermen’s groups campaigning for a more […]

26 Sep 2016

MMO: A streamlined approach to regulating development in the River Thames has been agreed by the MMO and Port of London Authority. The ‘Thames Concordat’ is a new set of principles both organisations will follow in cases where both the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port of London Authority (PLA) have a regulatory remit. It […]

19 Sep 2016

‘Scallop fishing is not a widely managed activity’ MMO     Hmm … you can say that again. Given the importance of scallops to UK fishermen this is a rather surprising and long overdue recognition of scale and importance of the fishery. The reporting deadline is 2019 so don’t hold your breath that it will say anything […]

12 Sep 2016

MMO  English Marine Plans   Evidence requirement RO27: Describe, quantitatively and qualitatively, economic situation in the North East, North West, South West and South East marine plan areas. MPAs   The MMO requires information on the economic and social baselines of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This should be achieved through the development of a framework for social […]