02 Jun 2026

Photo by Annie Spratt   Cornwall’s inshore fisheries regulator is proposing an emergency byelaw to restrict octopus potting by larger vessels, as concern mounts over the impact of an unprecedented population bloom on the region’s crab and lobster fisheries. Cornwall IFCA announced on 26 May that its members will consider the measure at a quarterly meeting […]

02 Jun 2026

Photo by Wayne Gourley   Around 200 dead sharks have washed up on a beach in Carmarthenshire in what conservationists believe was likely a discarded or abandoned catch, raising fresh concerns about bycatch practices and unregulated gear disposal in Welsh waters. The net was discovered on 24 May at Pembrey Beach, also known as Cefn […]

02 Jun 2026

Photo by Rau Ling   Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has launched a 12-week consultation on proposed fisheries management measures for three offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Irish Sea, with restrictions on bottom trawling for nephrops among the measures under consideration. The three sites, the Pisces Reef Complex Special Area […]

26 May 2026

Photo by Low Angle   New legislation came into force on 21 May, reforming the rules governing how offshore wind developers compensate for unavoidable impacts on protected marine sites. The changes, introduced jointly by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, amend the Conservation of Habitats and […]

26 May 2026

Photo by Chris Pagan   The UK is “built for a climate that no longer exists” and faces mounting threats to its coastlines, water supplies and marine ecosystems unless urgent action is taken, according to a landmark government report published last week. The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the government’s independent climate advisory body, released its Fourth Independent […]

26 May 2026

Photo by Woody Wan   Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced sweeping reforms to protect offshore wind farms, power stations and other critical clean energy projects from legal challenge, in a move that could significantly accelerate the consenting of new marine renewable infrastructure around the UK’s coastline. Under proposals published by HM Treasury on 20 May, Parliament […]

26 May 2026

Photo by hahaxo   Scientists have named 1,121 previously unknown marine species in a single year, the most significant discovery milestone to date for the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, a global effort to map life beneath the waves involving more than 1,000 researchers across 85 countries. The figure represents a 54% increase on the previous year’s annual […]