18 Feb 2025

Scuba diving is an incredibly popular sport, with an estimated 33 million dives taking place every year. However, just 15% of dive sites are fully protected from fishing and other destructive activities. New peer-reviewed research has posited that better safeguarding of recreational dive spots, which cover less than 1% of the ocean, could unleash scuba […]

19 Nov 2024

Friends of the Earth Germany, Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) filed a lawsuit against the German government to end bottom trawling, which is taking place in the Dogger Bank European Marine Protected Area. BUND – a member of Brussels-based marine NGO Seas At Risk, which is supporting the lawsuit – had already lodged an […]

22 Oct 2024

The Azores Islands, part of Portugal, have approved the creation of the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the North Atlantic, covering nearly 287,000 square kilometres. The network, called the Azores Marine Protected Area (RAMPA), designates 15% of Azorean waters as fully protected and another 15% as highly protected, restricting or banning fishing and other […]

28 May 2024

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), in collaboration with other UK governmental bodies, is responsible for managing marine non-licensable activities (mNLA) to further the conservation objectives of England’s inshore marine protected areas within 0-12 nautical miles (nm). mNLA activities encompass a range of recreational pursuits, from sailing and motorboating to diving and snorkelling. This excludes fishing […]

23 Apr 2024

The Irish Government has confirmed the establishment of Ireland’s first Marine National Park – Páírc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí. The new park, which is in Co. Kerry, will unite some of Europe’s most ecologically valuable places in celebration of nature across 70,000 acres of lands and seas. It brings together new acquisitions by the National […]

14 Feb 2023

The Red Rocks and Longay Marine Protected Area (MPA), in the Inner Sound of Skye will be permanently designated from 9 February 2023, protecting a flapper skate egg-laying site of national importance from various activities. These include certain types of fishing, recreational sea angling, marine deposit sites/waste disposal, aquaculture, marine infrastructure and anchoring, amongst others. […]

01 Feb 2022

Lord Goldsmith announces UK will support the creation of the world’s biggest transboundary marine protected area. The UK will help to protect some of the world’s most important and biodiverse marine environments in the Eastern Pacific, including key migratory routes for sea turtles, whales, sharks, and rays. At COP26 in Glasgow, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, […]

04 Jan 2022

A socioeconomic analysis [1] commissioned by Seas At Risk and carried out has revealed that a ban on bottom-contacting gear (bottom trawling and bottom dredging) in Marine Protected Areas would yield net benefits as soon as four years after the ban comes into force.  The study highlights that after 13 years of such a ban, […]