18 Sep 2023
More than half of the oil accidentally spilled by offshore oil and gas operations in UK waters over the past decade has ended up in marine protected areas (MPAs) meant to protect rare and threatened habitats and species, a Greenpeace Unearthed investigation has found. The Unearthed analysis of official data has found that over the […]
15 Aug 2023
Dogger Bank, a sandbank in the North Sea was designated a marine protected area more than decade ago to conserve its sensitive seabed habitat. Yet for most of that time, industrial fishing vessels legally dragged damaging gear across the seabed, prompting NGOs to cite it as one of Europe’s emblematic “paper parks,” where the designation […]
01 Aug 2023
A report published by the Marine Conservation Society has calculated the cost-benefit of banning bottom-contact fishing from the UK’s offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designated to protect seabed features. The analysis shows that initially, costs outweigh the economic gains of banning bottom-contact fishing gear. Costs include the loss of earnings by fishers, and the setting […]
04 Jul 2023
Countries from around the North-East Atlantic met in Oslo, Norway for the 2023 meeting of the OSPAR Commission for the Protection and Conservation of the North-East Atlantic. OSPAR Contracting Parties agreed to extend its largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) to include the seabed and a number of additional species and habitats, such as coral gardens […]
13 Jun 2023
A study published in Science Advances provides evidence that large-scale, offshore, and fully-protected marine areas (MPAs) protect biodiversity without negatively impacting fishing and food security. In the first-ever “before and after” assessment of the impact of establishing Mexico’s Revillagigedo National Park on the fishing industry, a team of U.S. and Mexican researchers found that Mexico’s industrial […]
13 Jun 2023
A survey has shown that three-quarters of people believe the Government should prioritise fully protecting valuable marine ecosystems. The RED C survey was carried out by Fair Seas, ahead of a gathering at Cork City Hall on World Ocean Day to discuss the next steps for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Ireland. The […]
06 Jun 2023
Australia plans to triple the size of an ecologically important marine park and close off an area larger than Germany to fishing and mining, the government announced Monday, protecting millions of vulnerable seabirds and animals. The remote Macquarie Island Marine Park, located off Australia’s southeastern coast between Tasmania and Antarctica in the Southern Ocean, is set to […]
02 May 2023
A UK Parliament ‘Westminster Hall’ debate has been scheduled for 3.30pm on Tuesday 2 May on Marine Protected Areas. The debate will be opened by Chris Grayling MP. Back in March 2022, the MP for Epsom and Ewell introduced a Ten Minute Rule Motion entitled ‘Marine Protected Areas (Bottom Trawling)’. At that time, Chris Grayling, […]
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