28 Apr 2026
Photo by Roman Manshin A major new report has concluded that the UK’s whales, dolphins and porpoises are being let down by legal protections that exist on paper but not in practice, with the North Sea, one of the most important cetacean habitats in UK waters, identified as a particular area of concern. The […]
28 Apr 2026
Photo by TJ Fitzsimmons A major new peer-reviewed study has found that oil and gas exploration activities in Greek waters are causing serious harm to some of the Mediterranean’s most endangered marine species, and that the environmental assessments used to approve those activities were conducted on the basis of flawed, incomplete and outdated science. […]
21 Apr 2026
Photo by Karl Hanssens Two developments this week have put Sussex’s marine conservation zones in the spotlight – one bringing new protections, the other raising fresh concerns about the integrity of a neighbouring site. Trawling ban takes effect off Beachy Head A new law banning trawling and scalloping in a zone of 101 square […]
14 Apr 2026
Photo by Nik Shuliahin The third and final preparatory commission for the High Seas Treaty concluded on 2 April at the United Nations headquarters in New York, wrapping up two weeks of intensive negotiations that the High Seas Alliance described as delivering meaningful progress, but also leaving several significant issues unresolved ahead of the treaty’s first Conference […]
14 Apr 2026
Image description: A puffin with fish in its beak. Photo by Tim Morgan Defra published its updated UK Marine Strategy Part One on 7 April 2026 – the first full update since 2019 and the opening of the strategy’s third six-year implementation cycle. The headline finding is stark: the UK is failing to meet Good Environmental Status in […]
07 Apr 2026
Photo Richard Bell Almost 40% of England’s seas are designated as marine protected areas. Their stated purpose, according to the government, is to protect and recover rare, threatened and important marine ecosystems from damage caused by human activities. Yet in the four years to 2024, trawlers using vast nets, including those that scour the […]
07 Apr 2026
Photo by Francesco Ungaro More than a tenth of the global ocean is now officially designated as protected or conserved, marking a historic milestone in the race to safeguard marine biodiversity. The figure — confirmed at 10.01% through the latest update to the World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas — represents a significant leap from […]
17 Mar 2026
Photo by Cláudio Luiz Castro Chilean President Gabriel Boric has signed a decree granting full protection to 360,000km² of waters surrounding the Juan Fernández Archipelago and the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park – one of his final acts before leaving office on 11 March. Once fully implemented, the designation will bring the total fully protected area […]
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