JNCC defends Darwin Mounds!

 

 

As reported in issue 5 of Nature News in 2002, JNCC advised Defra that the Darwin Mounds was a possible Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for its cold-water coral (Lophelia pertusa) reefs in UK offshore waters. JNCC also advised Defra that restrictions on trawling, which has been shown to have damaged some of the coral mounds, would be needed within the Darwin Mounds pSAC.

 

We do not yet have full UK Regulations implementing the Habitats and Birds Directives in UK offshore waters. Defra consulted in late 2003 on draft Regulations, and the final Habitats Regulations are due to be put before Parliament this autumn. Despite the lack of Regulations, Defra took action to prevent further damage by bottom trawlers to the cold water corals at the Darwin Mounds. In response to a request by the UK, the European Commission introduced 'emergency measures' in August 2003, under the recently reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), to ban bottom trawling within the area. The Commission then started negotiations for a permanent measure under the CFP to ban trawling permanently. This regulation was agreed, after detailed negotiations, by the European Council in April 2004.

 

A permanent ban on bottom trawling within the area came into force in August 2004. Agreement of this ban, and the method by which it was achieved, sets an important precedent in terms of control of damaging fishing activity in areas of nature conservation importance at a European level. The Darwin Mounds is the first area to have Europe-wide fishing restrictions imposed, but there are likely to be other sites requiring restriction of certain fishing activities, both in UK waters and in other Member States.

 

JNCC is also involved with marine work at an international level, including work to promote the conservation of     cold-water coral reefs such as the Darwin Mounds. This work is achieved partly through actions to conserve Lophelia pertusa reef under the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR), through chairing the Cold Water Corals Study Group of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), and through editorial work on a publication just released by UNEP - Out of sight, no longer out of mind (July 2004, available from JNCC or online at http://www.unep-wcmc.org/index.html?http://www.unep-wcmc.org/press/cold-water-coral-reefs/. This report has been produced by various scientific experts in the field of cold-water corals, and is supported by the governments of Ireland, Norway and the UK (represented by JNCC on behalf of Defra), WWF and UNEP. This important publication summarises our knowledge of the ecology of cold-water coral reefs, their actual and potential distribution worldwide, their status and the principle threats they face.  

 

Cold-water coral ecosystems are long-lived and fragile, which makes them particularly vulnerable to physical damage. The impacts of human activities are evident in almost every survey reported, regardless of the depth at which the corals occur.

 

The report provides a set of recommendations concerning the urgent need for: information management and research; monitoring and assessment; the development and implementation of management regulations; and the international co-ordination of activities and awareness.

 

Charlotte Johnston, Offshore Natura 2000 Co-ordinator

Tel: +44(0)1733 866905

 

Mark Tasker, Head of Marine Advice

Tel: +44(0)1224 655701