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 […]

16 Feb 2021

Researchers and fishermen working in the Lyme Bay Marine Protected Area have demonstrated for the first time, negative effects of pot fishing on both the benthic epibiota and the fishery, and that this effect is dependent on pot density. After 4 years, lower numbers of some key Reef Builders were observed in units subjected to […]

26 Mar 2019

Thanks to Keith Hiscock for picking this up Southern IFCA: Scallop Dredger Caught in Lyme Bay Marine Protected Area In a case heard in Weymouth Magistrates Court the Plymouth based scallop fishing dredger Cristal Waters FY34 was found to have used scallop dredges within the Lyme Bay Marine Protected Area, contrary to the Southern Inshore […]

02 Oct 2017

Bob Earll: Two articles below on the thinking for offshore mussel culture in the south coast of Devon and the changes on biodiversity. The issue is one of scale and there is a huge difference between a small scale operation and one the size of ‘Heathrow airport’. The scale of this development poses a number […]

20 Mar 2017

Sian Rees and eight of her colleagues have produced this evaluation framework This research evaluates the social and economic impact of the management measures that form the Lyme Bay Reserve and the partnership activities of the Lyme Bay Consultative Committee (LBCC) on Lyme Bay resource users. For the purpose of this evaluation it is the […]

14 Nov 2016

The latest report in the series by Plymouth University (dated March 2015) has just popped out of the system about a year after it was completed. This and previous reports provide an interesting assessment of change within an area closed to towed gear. Natural England has published ‘Lyme Bay – A case study: Response of […]