The Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced the Government’s next steps in protecting England’s precious marine environment with a new review to examine whether and how the strongest protections for areas of sea, known as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), could be introduced. This announcement follows the government’s manifesto commitment to create a Blue Belt of marine protection for Britain’s overseas territories and its own coast, and builds on the ambition of the 25 Year Environment Plan. As the strongest form of marine protection, new Highly Protected Marine Areas could help protect England’s precious coastline by closing off specific areas to any human activity with the potential to cause harm. Targeted Highly Protected Marine Areas would complement the existing network of Marine Conservation Zones, which just last week expanded by a further 41 areas, and allow vulnerable marine wildlife to fully recover, free from all damaging human activities, with the aim of restoring areas to a pristine state. Together this would mark the most significant expansion of England’s ‘Blue Belt’ of protected areas to date, as well supporting the government’s international efforts in calling for 30% of the world’s oceans to be protected by 2030. The review, led by Richard…

Blue Marine Foundation has published a study calling for national management of the common whelk. The study shows that whelks are caught before they have the chance to reproduce as whelks reach maturity at different sizes in different areas. In England, the size of maturity varies between 45mm up to 78mm depending on where they are located. It also found that there is very little mixing between stocks around the UK. For more information you can read the full study on the Blue Marine Foundations website here.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has today created 41 new Marine Conservation Zones, marking the most significant expansion of England’s ‘Blue Belt’ of protected areas to date. Stretching from Cornwall to Northumberland, the new protections safeguard 12,000 square kilometres of marine habitat, an area almost eight times the size of Greater London. Today’s announcement follows the government’s manifesto commitment to create a Blue Belt of marine protection for Britain’s overseas territories and its own coast, and builds on the ambition of the 25 Year Environment Plan. The rare stalked jellyfish, short-snouted seahorse and blue mussel beds are among the species and habitats that will benefit from the protections. With 50 zones already designated in 2013 and 2016, the UK now has 355 Marine Protected Areas of different types, spanning 220,000 square km – nearly twice the size of England. Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “The UK is already leading the rest of the world by protecting over 30% of our ocean – but we know there is more to do. Establishing this latest round of Marine Conservation Zones in this Year of Green Action is another big step in the right direction, extending our blue belt to safeguard precious and diverse sea life…

North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority are focusing work on obtaining evidence to show the absence of the non-native Chinese Mitten Crab around Barrow, and other parts of Morecambe Bay. With fishermens’ permission, IFCOs have inspected crab tiles and fishermen have been asked to keep a watchful eye and report what they are finding under the tiles to us. Every report helps to build up a picture which is needed to show areas where mussel from the Bay goes for aquaculture is non-native free. If you check your tiles and only find shore crabs we could do with knowing that. If you find a crab that you suspect is a Chinese Mitten Crab please follow the guidance available here. We have also been directed by Defra to collect data on crab tiling activity along with other bait collection and hand-gathering. All IFCAs have been instructed to assess these activities in Marine Protected Areas. NWIFCA does NOT anticipate that the levels of activity in NWIFCA District will require any management. Accurate data is needed to show this. We have an online questionnaire for bait collectors to assist us in getting the full picture. If you’d like to help us please…

Dog mess should never be left on beaches to be washed away by the tide. It contains high levels of bacteria that can affect water quality and pose a risk to public health. Some people believe that leaving dog poo on the beach is OK because the tide washes it away, however this natural disposal technique isn’t the best thing for our beaches and seas. Bacteria present in dog poo is potentially harmful to beach users and can affect water quality. Dog poo contains high levels of bacteria. Just one gram of dog poo diluted in one million litres of sea water (that’s enough to fill six double decker buses or two and half standard swimming pools) could pose a health risk to bathers Less than half a teaspoon of dog mess contains enough bacteria to potentially affect the classification of a bathing water Dog mess contains high levels of the two types of bacteria that are measured when testing bathing water quality and can determine whether the classification of a bathing water is Excellent, Good, Sufficient or Poo Millions of people head to the UK’s beaches to relax, paddle and swim every year and we want water quality to…

To download a copy of the poster click the link below: Chinese mitten crab poster

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs have tasked all the IFCAs with assessing hand-gathering and bait collection activities within all European Marine Sites, which provide protection for important habitats and bird species, by the end of December 2018. NWIFCA has its own data on activities but in order to improve the quality of the assessments we are asking for help from anglers and fishers. This will help to ensure that any risks from these activities to conservation features within the sites are identified correctly and that if management is required it is appropriate to the level of risk. NWIFCA have created a questionnaire for anglers throughout the district who collect bait. Your responses will help us get a better understanding of the areas and species that are popular for bait collection and the amounts that are collected. If you collect bait we encourage you to complete the questionnaire and return it to us. Only anonymised aggregate data will be published. Click here to complete the questionnaire online

Research suggests that plastic debris has been present in the marine environment for at least 60 years (Avio et al. 2017). However, due to the recent increase in media coverage from documentaries, such as Blue Planet II, public interest in marine contaminants has intensified. It is now recognised that plastics are the most abundant form of marine litter, accounting towards 60-80% of all marine debris (Foekema et al. 2013). One of the predominant issues with the presence of plastic in the marine environment is from consumption by organisms and subsequent entry into the food web. Consumption of plastics can result in a variety of health issues in marine species, including problems with digestion and feeding (Fendall & Sewell, 2009; Rummel et al. 2016). As in the marine environment, it is possible for humans to ingest microplastics from seafood. The issue with the presence of plastics in marine fisheries to human health has been raised in research with some evidence indicating that plastics absorb toxins that are carcinogenic (Mozaffarian & Rimm, 2006; Seltenrich, 2015). However, the exact health risks are currently unclear and previous studies have highly recommended that further research is needed to determine the exact health issues that may…

The North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NWIFCA) is aware of public concern over Halite’s gas storage development at Preesall on the Wyre Estuary and the impact of the brine discharge on the marine environment. A report by the Senior Scientist on the role of NWIFCA and the background to the development was tabled at the Authority meeting on 8th December and is available here: Preesall Gas Storage and Brine Discharge Report.

Defra has committed to banning the manufacture and sale of cosmetics and personal care products contain microbeads which may harm the marine environment. Defra plan to bring the plan into force at the end of 2017, with the ban on manufacture beginning on 1st January 2018 and the ban on sale beginning on 30th June 2018. A draft of the legislation is available to view until 15th October 2017 at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-the-use-of-microbeads-in-cosmetics-and-personal-care-products Any person may make representations on the draft legislation for England in writing to the Secretary of State. Any such representations should be sent by 15th October 2017 to: Marine Litter Policy Team, Defra, 8B Millbank, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR or by email to [email protected]

Defra is seeking views on a proposed ban on landing egg-bearing lobsters and crawfish in England. The aim of the ban is to protect stocks of these shellfish. Defra particularly want to hear from fishing and vessel owners and fishing licence/shellfish entitlement holders. The consultation ends on 15th May 2017. For further information and to participate visit the Defra website.

The Science team at the North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (the NWIFCA) are working on a Recreational Sea Angling Strategy and need your help! We understand sea angling brings many personal, social and economic benefits to the individuals, businesses and communities near the coast. Your knowledge, views and opinions will help us find out what is important to you and will help the Strategy grow over time. The NWIFCA seeks to balance the needs of people who use the sea; with the aim to sustainably manage sea fisheries resources. To achieve this, we need to learn more about sea angling in our district – the North West coast of England. We hope to reach as many sea anglers in the North West as possible. Send us an email at [email protected] and let us know what you think are the main issues that affect sea angling at the moment. You can download a working copy of the strategy here. Don’t forget to register as a stakeholder to have your say in the future.