12 Sep 2016

The race for vast remote ‘marine protected areas’ may be a diversion  Peter Jones The seas around Hawaii are set to become the world’s largest marine protected area, US president Barack Obama has announced. The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument will be expanded to more than 1.5 million square kilometres – that’s as big as France, […]

05 Sep 2016

Outgoing Presidents seem to like declaring MPAs – this one is in time for the IUCN World Congress. Openchannels: ‘On 26 August, US President Barack Obama expanded the boundaries of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands from its previous size of 362,000 km2 — already one of the largest MPAs in the […]

03 May 2016

Building social capital – relationships, trust and communication – can deliver outstanding results – see the Lofoten example below. The Berwickshire and Northumberland Marine Nature Partnership is a collaboration of twenty Scottish and English organisations focussed on managing our local inshore waters. The original partnership was established 16 years ago to proactively manage the Berwickshire […]

04 Apr 2016

Thanks to Peter Jones for the information on this. Only related to 10% MPA target but this is a UN call to action and scientists’ consensus statement to support this call? From March 7-9, 2016, the Government of Italy, the Ocean Sanctuary Alliance and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) organized an international conference to support […]

24 Mar 2016

Protecting large stretches of the ocean from human influence may well be good for conservation, but a new study by University of York scientists Professor Callum Roberts and Dr Bethan O’Leary suggests that setting aside at least 30 percent of it would also benefit fishermen and other stakeholders. The study, published in Conservation Letters, reviewed […]

29 Feb 2016

An update on this important programme from the Marine Management Organisation. Project to develop an inshore vessel monitoring system that can be used to manage marine protected areas and inshore fisheries. Project Background Approval Programme Lyme Bay trial Contact information Project Background The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is working with inshore fisheries and conservation authorities […]

29 Feb 2016

Open Channels (MPA news) A fuller insight into UK Government’s intentions for the Ascension Island and Pitcairn Islands MPAs. The UK Government has announced its intent to designate a large no-take MPA around part of Ascension Island, a remote and lightly populated UK territory in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Equator.  Although formal […]