27 Jan 2025

The Worshipful Company of Water Conservators (WCWC) has set out its concerns that there is no overarching strategy pulling all the elements of water conservation together in the United Kingdom and that current developments in policy and regulation are evolving as a patchwork of silos, often inconsistent, not linking together, or to what is in […]

25 Jan 2025

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament has launched the next of its thematic inquiries, on fisheries and the marine environment. MPs will delve into the challenges facing the fishing sector, including access to labour and competing spatial pressures on the marine environment.     The inquiry will see the Committee scrutinise the […]

25 Jan 2025

Dr Emma Sheehan, from the University of Plymouth, has been researching the ecological impacts of the Lyme Bay Marine Protected Area since 2008, in what is considered to be the best example of a continuous long-term MPA monitoring study in the UK. Now, Dr Sheehan, together with ‘Ropes to Reefs’ Project Manager Amy Cartwright, gives […]

22 Dec 2024

UK and Scottish Ministers have presented reports to the two Parliaments setting out progress and information on the Marine Protected Area network for Scotland, and English waters (inshore and offshore) and Northern Ireland offshore waters. This is a requirement under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MCAA). Key facts […]

27 Aug 2024

Conservation and animal protection groups have sued U.S. federal agencies in the U.S. Court of International Trade for failing to enforce import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Ban seafood imports The provisions aim to protect marine mammals from bycatch in foreign fishing gear by holding countries exporting seafood to the U.S. to […]

06 May 2024

A new study by a University of Sussex research team has identified 81 different marine species along the Sussex coastline, including tope shark, tub gurnard fish and the critically endangered European eel. Research led by Prof Mika Peck and Dr Valentina Scarponi, shows how using a combination of two biomonitoring tools, Baited Remote Underwater Video […]

01 Aug 2023

A major new Unearthed investigation highlights how sewage is affecting nature. According to Greenpeace, the investigation has revealed that sewage poured into England and Wales’ most-precious conservation sites for more than 300,000 hours in 2022. Over the past five months, Unearthed has been conducting an analysis of data on water companies’ sewage spills in sites […]

11 Oct 2022

The Irish Sea Network has published its first ever review. It examines the increasing pressure from climate change and activities such fishing, aquaculture, development, shipping, aggregates, military activity, recreational activity and pollution.     The Network says that while 36 per cent of the Irish Sea is designated as a Marine Protected Area, only approximately five per […]