29 Sep 2026
Photo by Ludovic Gauthier The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has published new guidance setting out how it assesses and manages activities in marine protected areas (MPAs) within 12 nautical miles of the English coast. It has found that more than half of England’s inshore MPAs may be vulnerable to recreational and other non-licensable activities. The guidance, […]
15 Sep 2026
Photo by Pete Godfrey The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has set out changes to how it supports habitat restoration projects, after gathering feedback from practitioners who told the regulator the marine licensing system can be difficult to navigate. In a blog post published on 2 September, Adam Tillotson, the MMO’s Regulatory Reform Unit Manager, said […]
08 Sep 2026
Photo by Tania la Vaullee The Government of Jersey has significantly expanded its Marine Protected Area (MPA) network, increasing the proportion of territorial waters protected from dredging and trawling from 6.5% to 21.7%, The Fishing Daily reported. The new rules, which took effect on 1 September, mean the area of sea protected from trawling and […]
18 Aug 2026
Photo of Maunsell Forts in the Thames Estuary, by James Boreham UK waters have been gripped by a marine heatwave since February, with the southern half of the country still experiencing category I-III conditions in mid-August and pockets of the Dorset coast reaching category IV, “Extreme,” the most severe classification on the scale. Scientists […]
11 Aug 2026
Photo by Kate Joyce Cornwall Wildlife Trust has raised fresh concerns over the proposed £150 million redevelopment of Falmouth Docks, warning that sediment contamination testing carried out ahead of planned dredging operations may be too limited to reliably identify material unsafe for disposal at sea. The Trust’s own analysis of environmental data found that […]
04 Aug 2026
Photo by Ben Elliott The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has launched a push to improve public understanding of the legal protections around Britain’s two native seahorse species, warning divers, snorkellers and film crews that intentionally disturbing them without a licence could result in enforcement action. Both the spiny or long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) and […]
14 Jul 2026
Photo credit: Adobe Stock The regulatory system in England and Wales is the primary obstacle to restoring marine habitats at scale, according to a new report from the Blue Marine Foundation. Coastal Comeback argues that a licensing regime designed to control industrial development is being applied, largely unchanged, to projects whose purpose is ecological recovery, and sets […]
06 May 2026
Image description: an underwater seagrass meadow. A warning from “underwater forests” New research has found that sewage and agricultural pollution in rivers is having an “alarming” impact on marine invertebrate life in Britain’s seagrass meadows. The study, carried out by Project Seagrass and Swansea University, examined 16 sites along the British coastline affected to […]
