oldharry
Well-known member
The public consultation about Studland Bay MCZ together with Bembridge and Osborne Bays runs until July 20th. This is your chance to put your point of view across. BORG has done a great deal of groundwork, but DEFRA are well aware we are nothing more than a small group of well informed people. Now we need the boating community as a whole to stand up and be counted, and to show DEFRA just how many people feel strongly about this.
Conservation is clearly needed to try and stop the breakdown of marine life in our seas, and ensuring the survival of Seagrasses is an important part of this. However, the proposals in these three key places are based on unfounded and unproven assumptions which almost entirely miss the point and in our view will be intrusive and ineffective. Ineffective not only because anchoring is clearly not a threat to eelgrass, but because the argument over Studland has eclipsed the real dangers to the eelgrass from pollution and commercial activities so that the eelgrass remains at risk. Intrusive, because if the conservation lobby have their way, several beautiful and important anchorages may be closed to us. WE are not opposed to conservation, but we believe the measures proposed simply do not match up to the facts.
A leading Studland Resident has summed it up very clearly:
Hello Again!
Studland Bay has again been recommended by Defra to become an MCZ in their third and hopefully final Tranche. Fortunately Studland has previously been discarded in the first two tranches. Studland was found to be unsuitable due to lack of evidence that the Bay’s flora and fauna needed protection. We are all hopeful that Studland will again be discarded and remain free for all to enjoy. But...
Below is the latest link about Studland;
https://consult.defra.gov.uk/marine...pporting_documents/Studland Bay Factsheet.pdf
You will note that Anchoring and Moorings are blamed for the Eelgrass beds being in ‘unfavourable condition’.
There is no evidence to prove that Anchoring and Moorings are to blame. Weather (Easterly gales) and Eutrophication may be contributory factors but NOT Boating activity.
The usual nonsense about Seahorses is written into the case. As we have discovered Seahorses are found all around the UK coast, they must therefore breed in those locations. There is nothing significant or unusual about the occasional visiting Seahorse to Studland in the summer months.
If you need further proof of all this have a look at Boat Owners Response Group website;
http://boatownersresponse.org.uk/
And in particular;
http://boatownersresponse.org.uk/evidence/
Or
In brief;
“Key points are that while anchoring has carried on in Studland Bay for decades, the eelgrass (seagrass) has been healthy and expanding in extent, apart from under the fixed chain moorings, as shown by aerial photography and an underwater video survey. No definitive evidence has been produced of any long term damage. Eelgrass is resilient stuff as shown by studies in the scientific literature, if disturbed it is fully capable of re-growing, like so many plants. If anchoring and mooring are banned at Studland, the local boating economy will be hit, to a much greater extent than the Defra document claims, and any conservation gain is likely to be minimal as the eelgrass is flourishing anyway. Our coastline should be regarded as a shared resource, and is important for recreation as well as conservation, and ways are needed to satisfy both demands – as is generally acknowledged.”
Studland Bay is one of the most used Recreational Bays on the South Coast. It would be a great pity for unnecessary restrictions to be imposed which would limit people’s enjoyment.
Please help by making your views known to Defra;
mcz@defra.gsi.gov.uk
and completing the Defra Consultation below and any other means you have of Saving Studland Bay.
ONLINE PUBLIC CONSULTATION available at https://consult.defra.gov.uk/marine/...marine-conser/ .
THE CONSULTATION IS OPEN FOR JUST SIX WEEKS and CLOSES ON JULY 20TH."
Conservation is clearly needed to try and stop the breakdown of marine life in our seas, and ensuring the survival of Seagrasses is an important part of this. However, the proposals in these three key places are based on unfounded and unproven assumptions which almost entirely miss the point and in our view will be intrusive and ineffective. Ineffective not only because anchoring is clearly not a threat to eelgrass, but because the argument over Studland has eclipsed the real dangers to the eelgrass from pollution and commercial activities so that the eelgrass remains at risk. Intrusive, because if the conservation lobby have their way, several beautiful and important anchorages may be closed to us. WE are not opposed to conservation, but we believe the measures proposed simply do not match up to the facts.
A leading Studland Resident has summed it up very clearly:
Hello Again!
Studland Bay has again been recommended by Defra to become an MCZ in their third and hopefully final Tranche. Fortunately Studland has previously been discarded in the first two tranches. Studland was found to be unsuitable due to lack of evidence that the Bay’s flora and fauna needed protection. We are all hopeful that Studland will again be discarded and remain free for all to enjoy. But...
Below is the latest link about Studland;
https://consult.defra.gov.uk/marine...pporting_documents/Studland Bay Factsheet.pdf
You will note that Anchoring and Moorings are blamed for the Eelgrass beds being in ‘unfavourable condition’.
There is no evidence to prove that Anchoring and Moorings are to blame. Weather (Easterly gales) and Eutrophication may be contributory factors but NOT Boating activity.
The usual nonsense about Seahorses is written into the case. As we have discovered Seahorses are found all around the UK coast, they must therefore breed in those locations. There is nothing significant or unusual about the occasional visiting Seahorse to Studland in the summer months.
If you need further proof of all this have a look at Boat Owners Response Group website;
http://boatownersresponse.org.uk/
And in particular;
http://boatownersresponse.org.uk/evidence/
Or
In brief;
“Key points are that while anchoring has carried on in Studland Bay for decades, the eelgrass (seagrass) has been healthy and expanding in extent, apart from under the fixed chain moorings, as shown by aerial photography and an underwater video survey. No definitive evidence has been produced of any long term damage. Eelgrass is resilient stuff as shown by studies in the scientific literature, if disturbed it is fully capable of re-growing, like so many plants. If anchoring and mooring are banned at Studland, the local boating economy will be hit, to a much greater extent than the Defra document claims, and any conservation gain is likely to be minimal as the eelgrass is flourishing anyway. Our coastline should be regarded as a shared resource, and is important for recreation as well as conservation, and ways are needed to satisfy both demands – as is generally acknowledged.”
Studland Bay is one of the most used Recreational Bays on the South Coast. It would be a great pity for unnecessary restrictions to be imposed which would limit people’s enjoyment.
Please help by making your views known to Defra;
mcz@defra.gsi.gov.uk
and completing the Defra Consultation below and any other means you have of Saving Studland Bay.
ONLINE PUBLIC CONSULTATION available at https://consult.defra.gov.uk/marine/...marine-conser/ .
THE CONSULTATION IS OPEN FOR JUST SIX WEEKS and CLOSES ON JULY 20TH."