06 May 2024
To coincide with the Our Ocean conference, a new report, co-authored by Marine Conservation Society, Seas At Risk and Oceana, shows that in the seven countries analysed, 4.4 million hours of apparent bottom trawling was allowed in MPAs between 2015-2023 – equivalent to more than 500 years’ worth of trawling. Using data compiled by Global Fishing Watch, the breadth and […]
23 Apr 2024
Greece aims to be the ‘first in Europe’ to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas as part of 21 initiatives worth 780 million euros. Greece has the longest Mediterranean coastline and plans to create two marine parks, one in the Ionian Sea and one in the Aegean Sea, along with efforts to tackle coastal […]
20 Mar 2024
The UK’s marine protected areas (MPAs) were exposed to over 33,000 hours of suspected bottom trawling in 2023, according to new analysis from Oceana UK. The environment group used analysis of satellite data from Global Fishing Watch to show that over 100,000 hours of apparent industrial fishing took place within the UK’s offshore MPAs in 2023 […]
12 Mar 2024
Protected areas are set to cover one-third of oceans by 2030 yet rigorous empirical estimates of the relative performance of different marine protected area (MPA) types are few, so states a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study compares the benefits from no-take vs. multiple-use MPAs, providing insights […]
27 Feb 2024
An investment of €233m to fund 12 European environmental and climate projects was announced by the European Commission on 22 February 2024. As part of the EU’s long-term LIFE programme, Ireland is to receive €15.14m of funding to expand and enforce a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) with its waters. The 12 Europe-wide strategic […]
27 Feb 2024
The government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands has announced plans to introduce significant enhancements to marine protection in the Southern Ocean. The announcement of an additional 166,000km2 of ‘No Take Zones’, covering an area eight times the size of Wales, will result in 449,000km2of highly biodiverse marine habitat being closed to all […]
13 Feb 2024
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is seeking feedback on policies to update guidance on Marine Protected Area (MPA) assessments. In July 2021, Defra consulted on best practice guidance for developing compensatory measures in relation to MPAs. The UK government department are now consulting on draft policies to inform updated guidance using this […]
09 Feb 2024
A group of conservation organisations are calling on planners to work together to ensure that wildlife is protected in the Irish Sea. The ‘Ecological Considerations for Marine Spatial Planning in the Irish Sea’ report urges planners in all six nations bordering the Irish Sea to collaborate and cooperate “for the sake of nature”. The Irish […]
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