Harmful fishing practices will be banned from UK coastal waters under new legislation to protect endangered species
Lisa Bachelor, The Observer The Guardian 8 Nov 09;
An exotic underwater world of seahorses, sharks and corals that surrounds the coast of Britain is to be given greater protection under new legislation coming into force this week.
The long-awaited Marine Act will allow conservation groups to map sites of nature preservation for the first time. Future legislation to be enforced in these marine conservation zones will see an end to damaging practices such as scallop dredging and trawler fishing.
Currently there is only one small piece of coastline in Britain that is heavily protected – the sea around Lundy Island, off Devon. As a result, species such as spiny sea-horses, found in Studland Bay in Dorset, and basking sharks, seen in Britain's coastal waters in the summer, have been under serious threat.
"This is a truly momentous event for our marine wildlife," said Joan Edwards, head of living seas for the Wildlife Trusts. "We have campaigned for many years for new laws to provide better protection of marine habitats and wildlife, as well as improved management of activities at sea. Numbers of basking sharks have dropped by more than 95% and corals, seahorses, whales, dolphins and seals have all been affected. The Marine and Coastal Access Bill, if effectively implemented, will provide the chance to conserve the thousands of species which inhabit UK waters."
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds hopes the act will also offer greater protection to Britain's seabirds, which are vulnerable to destructive fishing methods and marine pollution. "In recent years we have seen frightening declines in kittiwakes and other seabirds," said Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB's director of conservation. "Climate change has been warming our seas and the food chain on which they rely is in danger of collapse. While this act can't stop climate change, it can help reduce other pressures on these vulnerable populations."
Part of the act's purpose is to safeguard Britain's vast network of brightly coloured, delicate corals. These include rarities such as the sunset cup coral, only found at a small number of isolated sites in the south-west of England and Wales. It is a slow-growing, long-lived species, making it particularly vulnerable. "Bottom trawling is like taking a plough along the sea bed," said Callum Roberts, professor of marine conservation at York University. "That is not conducive to sustaining healthy populations of fish."
The wildlife charity WWF has identified six "flagship species" that are under threat or in decline, which it believes will benefit from the act. These are the Atlantic salmon, whose numbers have been falling for 30 years; the pink sea fan, an exotic-looking horny coral; the harbour porpoise, usually seen in summer along the Welsh and Scottish coasts; sea-grass beds, a vital sea-horse habitat; deep-water coral reefs and horse mussel beds.
The establishment of the marine conservation zones will take place over the next two years, and the rules that govern each zone will be different, depending upon the needs of the species that are identified within them.
"If the Marine Act produces another feel-good exercise, it will have failed. My feeling is that it won't and that it will offer real protection to marine species," said Roberts.
