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, […]
28 Feb 2023
An area roughly the size of Germany is set to be added to Australia’s protected marine zones, safeguarding the future of millions of penguins, seals and sea birds on Macquarie Island. The remote and rugged island, halfway between the main island of Tasmania and Antarctica, hosts up to 100,000 seals and 4 million penguins, including […]
28 Feb 2023
The Marine Protected Areas (Prohibited Methods of Fishing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 came into operation from 1 January 2023, prohibiting demersal mobile gear (bottom-towed) in nine inshore MPAs, alongside management of pot fishing activity. A collection of Northern Ireland organisations including DAERA, AFBI, environmental NGOs and the fishing industry have come together to discuss fishery […]
14 Feb 2023
Protected marine areas are one of the essential tools for the conservation of natural resources affected by human impact —mainly fishing—, but, are they enough to recover the functioning of these systems? A paper published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science highlights the limitations of marine reserves in restoring food webs to their pristine state […]
22 Jan 2023
Last week we covered the story of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) launching a consultation on a proposed byelaw to ban bottom-towed gear in 13 MPAs to protect marine ecosystems in England. The area covered is over 4,000 km2 and combined with existing MMO byelaws, this will bring the total area protected from bottom-towed gear by MMO […]
17 Jan 2023
The latest stage of proposed measures to protect further valuable marine habitats and manage harmful fishing activity in England’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are unveiled today (17 January 2023) by Defra and the MMO. The news follows the announcement from the UK Government on 13 April 2022 regarding a ban on bottom trawling from four […]
20 Dec 2022
The Irish Government has announced newly protected marine sites and government approval of the General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill. Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, said: “We started from a low base of 2.3% marine protection in 2020, but since I became Minister we have more than tripled […]
13 Dec 2022
The Scottish Government has released plans to offer added protection to Scotland’s marine biodiversity. Proposals to develop Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) have been launched. Views are being sought on proposals that would make Scotland the first country in the world to designate at least 10% of its seas as Highly Protected Marine Areas. […]
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