Marine Conservation

[Cornishman]

Now that the Marine and Coastal Access Bill has received Royal Assent the Finding Sanctuary organisation is planning new marine conservation areas across the South West and are seeking public support.
If you are interested they are having what they call drop in days at Exmouth on the 18th Nov and Ilfracombe on the 26th November. More drop in days at different places around the region are being planned.
Further information can be found at www.finding-sanctuary.org

 

[Searush]

Oh, Bugger, not another set of do-gooders banning anchoring in all our safe havens? May they never find sea horses in your marina!

So there I am waiting for safe conditions to cross the bar & the haven that has been used by sailing ships for this purpose since before records began is prohibited to yotties & I have to be wrecked & drown. But the sea horses will be all right!

 

[longjohnsilver]

Maybe an inconvenience for some but as a diver for almost 30 years I support anything which will help the seas recover, although the real culprits are the dredgers and trawlers.

I do believe that there is evidence somewhere that anchoring actually helps the seahorses, another thread i know but if there's any evidence I'd be interested as I will attend the Exmouth open day. And I think scallop dredging in inshore (ie less than 20m water) should be banned entirely. The ban around Lyme Regis is making a huge difference to all sorts of sea life.

 

[Searush]

Fine, I'm with banning sea floor dredging, even netting fish inshore, but total no-take zones plus no anchoring, diving etc etc seems OTT.

I accept that Lundy has improved no end, but there should be a return to some access once the environment is recovering. The enriched environment needs to be accessable - with minimum impact, so that people see & understand the benefits. That means some tourism, some anchoring & some diving & even some rod fishing. Not sure how it can be managed, but must be worth a try.

 

[longjohnsilver]

No problem with any of that. Common sense says that from a true conservation area marine life will spread out to benefit commercial fishing. Problem is commercial fishermen can't see any further that their next haul, with very few exceptions.