Anticipated general election could put Marine Protected Areas Bill on hold Ireland may not have its Marine Protected Area (MPA) legislation in place before an imminent general election. Junior nature and heritage minister Malcolm Noonan has said that the Marine…
Scottish group Skipinnish gave the live premiere of their breakout hit ‘The Clearances Again’ at a packed Aberdeen Music Hall on Friday, 12 May, the first day of the Scottish Skipper Expo in the city. Whilst there were many fishing…
French fisheries scientist Alain le Sann has written extensively about conservation and management, particularly how it impacts artisanal fishermen. He argues here, in a personal piece translated and abridged by Hull University academic Magnus Johnson, that European fishermen are being…
Committee warned about spatial pressures on Scots industry Industry leaders have attacked government proposals to introduce Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), saying that that they lack a sound evidence base and that their effects cannot be measured, reports Tim Oliver.…
Questions were being asked last week about the performance of Devon and Severn IFCA (D&SIFCA), and about the lack of consistency in enforcement within the six-mile zone throughout English waters, after a judge threw out a case brought by the…
EU fishermen have confirmed their intention to take the European Commission to court over moves to ban trawling, longlining and other gears in up to 94 MPAs across EU waters, in areas deeper than 400m. The areas include a large…
New research has found that whole-site management of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) can increase the total abundance of species within its borders by up to 95%, reports Paul Scott. The findings are highlighted in a study by the University…
The MMO has launched a ‘call for evidence’ on the impacts of fishing activity in 13 MPAs, reports Tim Oliver. It says the evidence call is to progress conservation efforts in the MPAs. It follows new byelaws to prohibit ‘damaging…
New byelaws designed to protect four Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are to be introduced, reports Paul Scott. The MMO says that the four new byelaws will ban the use of ‘dredges, demersal seines and semi-pelagic trawls, collectively known as bottom-…
Just before Christmas, green NGOs delivered a giant pop-up book depicting the ‘devastation’ caused by ‘destructive’ bottom trawling to EU commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, on behalf of more than 150,000 Europeans who have signed a petition calling for the EU to…
