Conservation groups have expressed disappointment after the UK government confirmed it has dropped two of the five ‘highly protected marine areas’ originally proposed. A statement published by the government on Tuesday (28 February) confirms the three new sites being taken forward will be designated before 6 July 2023. These sites are Allonby Bay (Irish Sea), […]
The Portuguese government has expanded a marine protected area (MPA) around the Selvagens Islands, creating the largest fully protected marine reserve in Europe at 2,677 square kilometres. The expansion to the MPA around the small archipelago, located midway between Madeira and the Canary Islands, follows the findings of an expedition by National Geographic Pristine Seas […]
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has released its Marine unProtected Areas report which found that bottom trawling is taking place in a worrying 98% of the UK’s offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designed to protect the seabed. As a result of the report, and the year-long research which informed it, the MCS is calling for a ban on […]
Greenpeace UK has urged the prime minister to ban supertrawlers in the UK’s network of marine protected areas. Speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Boris Johnson said after Brexit the UK “will be able to ban these huge hoover trawlers that come in and hoover up everything off the bottom of the sea”. […]