Finding Sanctuary: Planning Marine Conservation Zones in the south-west

Finding Sanctuary Recreational Sea User Workshop

Afternoon all,

Well I must say that it's been very interesting reading all of your posts.

It is funny that we have no friends on here, but then we never expected to make any, and if everyone dislikes us a little bit at the end of the project, then I think we'll have done our job. If anyone liked us, somewhere someone wouldn't have had to compromise.

I would like to apologise for the problems some of you have been having with the online mapping tool. It does sometimes take a few days for your registration to come through as our GIS and data dude, Shaun, has to click the button in amongst all of his other work, so please be patient. If you still have problems after a week, let me know.

A national version, allowing you to map all of your boating activities for the entire country is due to launch next Thursday (10th June) which will hopefully have ironed out most of the creases. It will use the same URL as before.

If anyone would like to carry out an interview face to face using paper questionnaires and A2 nautical charts (we have varying scales), then please contact me and I will put you in contact with your nearest liaison officer.

Right, back to business....

On June 23rd this year, Finding Sanctuary will be holding a workshop for recreational sea users on June 23rd in Exeter.

This workshop will give recreational users the chance to meet your representatives on our Regional Steering Group to give them your thoughts and comments directly.

There will also be the opportunity to be amongst the first see the data we have collected from boaters, divers, anglers and other watersports users alike.

For more information on the event and details of how to book your place take a look at the flyer attached, check out our website
or contact me, Sarah McLintock:

sarah@finding-sanctuary.org
01392 878 340

Cheers
 
"It is funny that we have no friends on here, but then we never expected to make any, and if everyone dislikes us a little bit at the end of the project, then I think we'll have done our job"

Ah! The real aim is being admitted, someone make sure this statement is forwarded to the press.
 
Seaside Alliance

seems to me we need a marinised "countryside alliance" - a sort of seaside supporters alliance of shore & water users, plus those interested in marine conservation, and those who earn their livelihood from the water users
 
Sorry to rain on your parade, but whenever I read the word 'workshop' I see quangospeak and steer well clear. What is wrong with the word 'meeting'?

To me a workshop is where one goes to be (re)educated.

A meeting is where we can listen, speak and discuss our concerns.
 
Sarah, I don't think it's true to say you have no friends on here at all. There is a VERY strong defensive reaction that is largely because of the somewhat extreme and aggressive behaviour that some of the "environmentalists" show towards anyone not in their group and who dis-agrees with them.

That is both frustrating and insulting to almost all who sail as they are closer to the environment than the vast majority of the public. Try posting something like "I've been told Tesco's carrier bags degrade in less than 6 months so I just chuck them over side" on here and you'll really find out what hostility is!!! I know of a couple who didn't use their motor boat for an entire season because there were ducks nesting in the engine bay. There are already marine conservation areas in the med and I don't know of a single person who has criticised their existence. There's a very widespread acceptance of the need for holding tanks, despite the fact that the law allows the discharge of an entire city's raw sewage into Chichester Harbour. Nobody is suggesting that we return to TBT-based anti-fouling. When people talk about diesel spills on here it's all about the damage it can cause, not how they might be fined. Walk into a chandler's near a marina and see what type of detergent it sells almost exclusively - it'll be an environmentally friendly one.

To be honest most of the people on here (and I'm including the Mobo forum) are a bunch of tree-huggers, albeit realistic ones. If we genuinely believe there's a cause for concern then we'll be first in the queue.

One issue is that it appears you are set up to define a marine conservation area and therefore you will regardless. Surely the brief should be "is one needed" rather than "where shall we put them"?

The other issue is that we see the likes of the Sea-Horse Trust pushing their view very aggresively but we don't see any sign from yourselves that says "Hey guys, I know you're passionate about this but but shouting loudly and whipping up public opinion and media doesn't make the facts any different". There's a huge concern that you will simply listen to the few that make the most noise and use the spin best - it's all about politics it seems, not actually creating and maintaining a healthy environment. I suspect that the extremes of the environmental groups are also keen to try and make anyone else react in exactly the way they do towards your overtures - that fringe are basically politicians and spin merchants frankly and not the ones who are truly concerned about the environment at all.

I wish you all the best and I thank you for your efforts to convince this forum community (and the hundred of thousands, possibly millions, of boaters outside of it) that you really do want to engage with us and that we will be listened to. The unfortunate fact is that one of the many reasons people go boating is because it is such an independent and self-reliant activity so they aren't a group likely to rise up together to be counted.

To the rest of you, no matter how frustrated you may be, please try and go beyond that frustration and engage constructively - even if it's it's just a polite email with your observations and comments. Any thoughts as to who to cc: on that email would be appreciated so that they are all together. the RYA perhaps? Maybe even someone at IPC would like to provide an email address for that purpose - it would allow an independant group to see the collated mails to further any discussions.
 
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When I see them next I'll ask them - having said that you've only got to add 1 weekend either side of 28 days and you've significantly exceeded the number of decent weekends we've had the last couple of years.
 
grumpy_o_g said:
Sarah, I don't think it's true to say you have no friends on here at all. There is a VERY strong defensive reaction that is largely because of the somewhat extreme and aggressive behaviour that some of the "environmentalists" show towards anyone not in their group and who dis-agrees with them. SNIP SNIP
Click to expand...


Well stated and yes it does seem the idea is to find an area set it up and than see what they can save!!!! Maybe we can be convinced this is not the case????
 
I have read through some of this thread. So i will give my view points anyway, they might have been covered already. But they are my thoughts and views.

Firstly how is this really going to get policed. There are a large number of people who sail especially the solent. Just for sun, but not much experience. They dont necessary read all the rules. They dont do all the right things. Thankfully, in my view point, as much as the press dont like this idea. Not all had sailing at school. So some come from backgrounds that have meant they have worked very hard to get a boat. To enjoy themselves at the weekend. How are they going to know that they are doing wrong.

The damage done by sailors isnt very much. Fishermen do a lot of damage in our seas. This needs to stop. But the EU regulations think they are great. So why are we being attacked for another sectors damage.

Sea life, whilst might like a certain area. I am being wrong. Is all at sea. So what I mean is okay great we close a couple of bays for anchoring. Then all those people will go to one spot together and do even more damage. In my view thats wrong.
 
Recreational Sea User Workshop outputs online now!!

Good afternoon all,

We have now put the outputs from the Recreational Workshop up on the website.

Due to file size restrictions, they are split into several documents for download, but can all be found on the Resources page of the website under the general tab. The presentations given on the day are also available for download from the website, along with the corresponding videos with a couple available on our YouTube page.

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone and everyone you know.

We only have 2 full months of data collection remaining! Therefore, it is vital that as many people as possible are made aware of what we are doing and use our online Interactive Map to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of how the sea is used.

Having had a look around the new National Interactive Map, I am aware that the data that can be found under the view tab titled Stakeholders/findingsanctuary lists anglers, divers, commercial, charter and leisure users. I have contacted the website designers and pointed out that it is inappropriate to label all watersports as 'leisure' when they have very different ranges and possible impacts. Currently this data shows sailing, motor cruising, surfing, kitesurfing, PWC and water skiers amongst other disciplines under one map.

If it is not possible to change how this information is displayed, Shaun and I are currently discussing the best way to display these maps as pdfs for download on our website. So please bear with me on this issue and I will get back to you asap.

The contacts that were supplied on the day are being passed on to our Liaison team and will be followed up in the coming months.

Kind regards,
Sarah

sarah@finding-sanctuary.org
01392 878 340
 
Finding Sanctuary said:
Good afternoon all,

We have now put the outputs from the Recreational Workshop up on the website.

Due to file size restrictions, they are split into several documents for download, but can all be found on the Resources page of the website under the general tab. The presentations given on the day are also available for download from the website, along with the corresponding videos with a couple available on our YouTube page.

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone and everyone you know.

We only have 2 full months of data collection remaining! Therefore, it is vital that as many people as possible are made aware of what we are doing and use our online Interactive Map to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of how the sea is used.

Having had a look around the new National Interactive Map, I am aware that the data that can be found under the view tab titled Stakeholders/findingsanctuary lists anglers, divers, commercial, charter and leisure users. I have contacted the website designers and pointed out that it is inappropriate to label all watersports as 'leisure' when they have very different ranges and possible impacts. Currently this data shows sailing, motor cruising, surfing, kitesurfing, PWC and water skiers amongst other disciplines under one map.

If it is not possible to change how this information is displayed, Shaun and I are currently discussing the best way to display these maps as pdfs for download on our website. So please bear with me on this issue and I will get back to you asap.

The contacts that were supplied on the day are being passed on to our Liaison team and will be followed up in the coming months.

Kind regards,
Sarah

sarah@finding-sanctuary.org
01392 878 340
Click to expand...

This all just looks like jobs for the boys to me & I can't really believe that most people will want to become involved in it.
I would be more impressed if occasionally.....just occasionally I saw some of the people from these worthy organizations removing the rubbish & detritus that ends up in our rivers & creeks.
Portsmouth Harbour would be a good start!:rolleyes:
 
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kristifercolumnbus said:
This all just looks like jobs for the boys to me & I can't really believe that most people will want to become involved in it.
I would be more impressed if occasionally.....just occasionally I saw some of the people from these worthy organizations removing the rubbish & detritus that ends up in our rivers & creeks.
Portsmouth Harbour would be a good start!:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You are 100% correct, rubbish (especially plastic) in the sea does far more harm to marine life than a few recreational boats can ever do (a plastic bag ingested by a marine mammal can kill).

However, monitoring, controlling and cleaning up this real threat is a lot harder than rallying support to fight the rich boat owners.
 
Finding Sanctuary said:
Afternoon all,

Well I must say that it's been very interesting reading all of your posts.

It is funny that we have no friends on here, but then we never expected to make any, and if everyone dislikes us a little bit at the end of the project, then I think we'll have done our job. If anyone liked us, somewhere someone wouldn't have had to compromise.

I would like to apologise for the problems some of you have been having with the online mapping tool. It does sometimes take a few days for your registration to come through as our GIS and data dude, Shaun, has to click the button in amongst all of his other work, so please be patient. If you still have problems after a week, let me know.

A national version, allowing you to map all of your boating activities for the entire country is due to launch next Thursday (10th June) which will hopefully have ironed out most of the creases. It will use the same URL as before.

If anyone would like to carry out an interview face to face using paper questionnaires and A2 nautical charts (we have varying scales), then please contact me and I will put you in contact with your nearest liaison officer.

Right, back to business....

On June 23rd this year, Finding Sanctuary will be holding a workshop for recreational sea users on June 23rd in Exeter.

This workshop will give recreational users the chance to meet your representatives on our Regional Steering Group to give them your thoughts and comments directly.

There will also be the opportunity to be amongst the first see the data we have collected from boaters, divers, anglers and other watersports users alike.

For more information on the event and details of how to book your place take a look at the flyer attached, check out our website
or contact me, Sarah McLintock:

sarah@finding-sanctuary.org
01392 878 340

Cheers
Click to expand...

I'm not on the South Coast myself but it strikes me as worrying when a degree of power is vested in people that appear to me to be a bunch of muppets.
 
Here is a link to the RYA talk at that workshop:

http://www.youtube.com/user/findingsanctuary2010#p/a/u/1/_0L7d72J848

Edit: If you don't have time to watch it. Caroline from the RYA has been meeting with clubs and individuals to find out where people race, anchor, and seek shelter. If you or your club have not been spoken to, you can contact them. That will enable the RYA to present a strong case on behalf of boating people when discussing MCZs etc.
 
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In view of the BP oil spill in The Gulf Of Mexico, surely the priority for marine conservation areas is the area likely to be of interest for offshore drilling. The only way for the government to show any sort of commitment to conservation is to withdraw the offshore oil blocks and for Finding Sanctuary to designate those areas.
 
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