31 Dec 2024

According to a Watershed Investigation, bathing waters across the UK are awash with pharmaceuticals, pesticides, industrial chemicals, harmful bacteria and genes that can create superbugs resistant to antibiotics, including medicines used as a last line of defence. In collaboration with the University of York, citizen scientists and Surfers Against Sewage, hundreds of samples were taken […]

30 Dec 2024

For the first time, the Coastal Futures conference is offering a range of free side-events for registered delegates, including: Poster exhibition:A room dedicated to more than twenty posters from the UK’s leading ocean and coastal practitioners. Photo exhibition: An exhibition that invites you to reflect on our commercial fishing industry and the contributions it makes to […]

30 Dec 2024

Scottish fishing chiefs have warned their industry faces a twin threat to its future in 2025. Offshore wind farms in the North Sea and the prime minister’s ambitions to “reset” relations between the UK and European Union are major dangers for the sector, they say. Scotland’s fishing sector is at risk of being “crushed” unless […]

30 Dec 2024

A decade ago, T. J. Pitcher and W. W. L. Cheung highlighted the dichotomy in perceptions regarding the status of global fisheries, presenting a challenging outlook on the long-term sustainability of fisheries (Pitcher and Cheung, 2013). Their analysis underscored the pressures that marine ecosystems and fisheries are facing, arguing that without significant shifts toward ecosystem-based […]

30 Dec 2024

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is celebrating the support it has provided to UK’s fishing and seafood industry in 2024 through various administered grant schemes.  In 2024 the MMO delivered £30m in funding to support 535 projects nationwide. This grant support has been delivered to industry thanks to a collaboration of teams across the MMO, […]

24 Dec 2024

Projects based in Yorkshire, Outer Hebrides and Merseyside have received a share of £2.4 million from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation. The studies are the first NERC research projects to be co-led by local community members and scientists from beginning to end. Reducing coastal erosion A project led […]

24 Dec 2024

Innovation, research and a mammoth volunteering effort helped conservationists learn more about wildlife in UK seas, reveals The Wildlife Trusts’ 2024 Marine Review. Every year The Wildlife Trusts’ Living Seas teams compile a Marine Review that explores the wildlife in UK seas. The Review reflects on work to protect and restore UK seas by staff, […]

22 Dec 2024

UK and Scottish Ministers have presented reports to the two Parliaments setting out progress and information on the Marine Protected Area network for Scotland, and English waters (inshore and offshore) and Northern Ireland offshore waters. This is a requirement under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MCAA). Key facts […]