Issue 2: Summer 2010

 

Welcome to the second MCZ Project Newsletter - designed to keep stakeholders up-to-date with the work of the Marine Conservation Zone Project.

 

The process to designate Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), as part of an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas, is progressing well. The four regional stakeholder groups responsible for making recommendations have begun to evaluate the data and create a first glimpse of where MCZs might be located. We recognise the significant amount of time and effort sea users and interest groups have committed to understanding the MCZ recommendation process and exploring the options available and we are pleased to see the progress made.

 

These initial suggestions have been reviewed by the Science Advisory Panel to ensure that they meet the ecological objectives set out by the Ecological Network Guidance which has now been published and is available from Natural England and JNCC. The regional stakeholder groups are still in the early stages of designing their recommendations and, to make sure that they have the best data available when they are making these recommendations, we are strongly urging stakeholders to share information with us.

 

We have also successfully launched the MCZ Project Interactive Map which enables sea users to easily share information with the Project about their marine activities, and the location of marine wildlife, habitats and geological features they have seen.  This has already had a positive response from users and will prove a valuable tool in ensuring that the stakeholder groups have the best available information to work from.

 

In the past few months our national liaison team has expanded to allow us to increase the amount of engagement we can do with national and international stakeholders. They will be out and about over the next few months organising meetings and helping to explain the Project’s process.

 

 We hope that you find this newsletter useful and informative. The MCZ Project provides a unique opportunity to create a new future for our seas and it is essential that we incorporate views from as broad a range of stakeholders as possible and encourage them to get involved, so please feel free to share this newsletter with others who use or have an interest in the marine environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Marsden

Director Marine, Natural England

 

 

Marine Conservation Zone Project Guidance

Since our last newsletter the final version of both the Ecological Network Guidance and Project Delivery Guidance have been released and are available from both the JNCC and Natural England websites.

 

To accompany the Ecological Network Guidance we have produced a guide that brings to life the species and habitats that will be protected by MCZs. Did you know that it is estimated that an area of mussel bed the size of a tennis court (400,000 mussels) can filter the equivalent of four Olympic-sized swimming pools of seawater in just one day or that seahorses have been around for at least 40 million years!

 

Explore our Interactive Map

The MCZ Project has recently launched an Interactive Map to gather additional data on how the sea is being used and share the data that we have collected so far. Many datasets, both biological and socio-economic, have already been collated at the national level and the Interactive Map aims to fill in the gaps in our knowledge by allowing sea users to directly enter information on the areas of the sea that are important to them.

 

Tom Hooper, project manager at Finding Sanctuary said “We’ve been using a regional version of this interactive map in the south-west for just over a year now, and it is fantastic news that it is now being rolled out nationally across all of the MCZ projects. All of us involved with the MCZ Project want to ensure that these important decisions are based on the best data; not just from marine industries, but from individuals who use the sea. Together, with information from face-to-face interviews that all four regional MCZ projects have been conducting, it will help to build up a detailed picture of the ecological value and use of our seas.”

He continued: “It is easy to use – you follow a series of simple steps showing you how to upload your information onto the map, or how to just browse and have a look around. It is a window into what exists under the waves, easily accessed easily from a computer, without having to don a wetsuit and mask.”

 

Tom Hooper concluded: “It is easier to obtain data from sectors that have a national body, for example, the cables industry. But it is more difficult to collect information on activities such as sea angling, diving and other recreational activities as they are more dispersed. It is crucial that people get involved at this stage so their voices can be heard. The maps of anonymous data that we have gathered over the past couple of years have already been tremendously valuable.”

Visit www.mczmapping.org to see if we already have the information on the areas that you use or whether there is extra information you can provide us with. The more information that the stakeholder groups have at their fingertips, the better the outcome of the location of MCZs for you.

 

Our National Liaison Team Expands

Over the past few months at JNCC four new people have joined the team to focus on engaging with national and international level stakeholders. Their main job is to co-ordinate meetings at this level across all our Marine Protected Area work, streamlining discussions on the Marine Conservation Zone Project with others on the Scottish Marine Protected Area Project and work on new Natura 2000 sites.

 

Johnny Murt and Declan Tobin recently took up post in April and May in the Aberdeen office to reinforce JNCC’s international fisheries liaison work. They will be engaging with non-UK fishers to identify the regions of international fishing activity in UK waters. The key tasks will be to perform a) interviews, b) mapping exercises and c) presentations with individual fishers/fishing organisations in each member state that has a fishing interest in UK waters. Many of the key stakeholder bodies they need to engage with have now been identified. This has been done through a desk-based analysis involving several members of the Marine Protected Sites and Marine Advice teams here at JNCC. Johnny and Declan have introduced themselves and the task ahead of them to many of these bodies through the Regional Advisory Council (RAC) meetings that have taken place in June and July. Next they will be visiting individual Member States and setting up meetings with fishers. These meetings are expected to run throughout the summer/autumn period.

 

, Senior Fisheries Liaison Officer	, Fisheries Liaison Officer
Tel: 0044 1224 266578	Tel: 0044 1224 266579
Mob: 0044 7837 812358	Mob: 0044 7912 145164

 

Ana Jesus and Ollie Payne will be concentrating their efforts on our engagement with the other sectors and co-ordinating the UK MPA Stakeholder Forum. They will be organising meetings with industry, Non-Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders to discuss ongoing Marine Protected Area work and collect additional information where there are gaps in the outputs of nationwide contracts that have been running to collate sea use data at the national level. For more information on Ana and Ollie’s work please or call 01733 866927.

 

 

 

 

Your Questions Answered

This month - Stephen Lockwood, Chair of the MPA Fishing Coalition
Each issue we invite a stakeholder representing a different sector to present us with their top three unanswered questions on the MCZ Project. This issue, Stephen Lockwood, Chair of the MPA Fishing Coalition, has shared his top three questions with us on Marine Conservation Zones.

 

Has the proposed MPA/MCZ area management system been scientifically proven and tested, to be beneficial to the entire ecosystem within its boundaries, taking into account such inevitable consequences as fishing effort and predator displacement?

We cannot scientifically prove the ecosystem benefits of managing a network of MPAs in the UK yet, as the MPA management system is not in place. This is why we have committed to an adaptive management process that can be altered in years to come as we undertake further research and understand more about the impact our MPA network is having.

 

However, examples from around the world such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Leigh Marine Reserve in New Zealand can provide an insight into what may be achieved once our management system is up and running. For example, in the Leigh Marine Reserve scientists have observed an ecosystem shift from an urchin barren that existed in the area before management measures were put in place to a kelp forest today which supports a huge variety of life and this in turn has led to increases in lobster and fish numbers in the wider ecosystem.

When identifying the location and management measures of MCZs we will be looking to reduce the effects of displacement wherever possible. Other than reference areas, only fishing that has a negative impact upon the features the site is designated for will be restricted. Many fishers will not be displaced at all by the introduction of MCZs. In some cases displacement will have a negative impact on the wider marine ecosystem and this will need to be managed by introducing wider fisheries measures by the relevant management authority. It is important that these measures are developed in conjunction with the fishing industry and we hope that projects such as the Sustainable Access to Inshore Fisheries project will contribute to this.

 

It is important to remember that Marine Protected Areas are only one tool to achieving Good Environmental Status of all of Europe’s seas by 2020 as required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. They will be implemented alongside additional management measures that look to ensure the entire ecosystem is in good health.

 

An MPA proposal, when implemented, will seriously restrict, and may even eliminate, my ability to make a livelihood from fishing. How will I be compensated and by whom? [The comparison is inevitably that with farmers' set-aside payments etc.]

In many MCZs fishing will still be allowed and livelihoods may not be significantly impacted. The MCZ Project has been structured to allow fishers to have direct involvement in the recommendation of the location of MCZs to minimise the impact on livelihoods wherever possible. If fishing, or specific types of fishing are prohibited within an MCZ, there will be no compensation offered for loss of earnings due to the introduction of MCZs. The Government has never compensated people when it has created marine protected areas and this remains its policy.

 

Any displacement of fishing effort from an MPA will inevitably result in increased pressure on target and non-target species and habitats in the areas to which the industry is forced to move. What guarantees will the industry receive that boundaries to MPAs will not be extended to mitigate 'damage' which the creation of the MPA initiated in the first place?

MCZs will be designated, and their boundaries set, to conserve specified features.  We would not expect boundaries of existing MCZs to be extended unless the site’s features had moved outside the boundary, for example as a result of climate change, and there was evidence that what was outside the MCZ needed to be protected.  We do not therefore anticipate boundaries being moved to address damage caused by, for example, displacement of activities, because the features inside the MCZ would still be conserved.

 

More generally we cannot guarantee that the boundary of an MCZ will not need to change over time, although it is unlikely to occur in many places. Once in place, MCZs will be monitored regularly to ensure that they are working towards their conservation objectives. There are provisions in the Marine and Coastal Access Act for Orders to de-designate MCZs, amend their conservation objectives, or amend their boundaries if required. The exercise of these powers would be backed by scientific evidence to support the changes they made.

 

The management of environment both inside and outside of MPAs is the responsibility of fisheries managers (the Marine Management Organisation, Sea Fisheries Committees (soon to be Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities) and the European Commission) and other authorities that are responsible for giving permission for people to carry out a wide range of activities. Under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive these managers will be required to ensure that Good Environmental Status is achieved throughout Europe’s seas. Therefore they may bring in additional management measures outside of MPAs to address this.

 

Other Marine Protected Area Projects in the UK

As well as the Marine Conservation Zone Project there are three other MPA recommendation processes occurring in the UK.

 

Natura 2000

More information on the identification of new Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) (collectively termed Natura 2000 sites) is available on the JNCC website.

 

MCZ Project Wales

In Welsh inshore waters the MCZ Project Wales will designate a small number of highly protected MCZs. Site selection will be managed by the Welsh Assembly Government in collaboration with the Countryside Council for Wales and will engage widely with the public and sea user interests. Further information can be found on the Welsh Assembly Government website and you can to be added to their newsletter distribution list.

 

Scottish MPA Project

In Scotland new MPAs will be designated for the protection of nationally important marine habitats and species, and features of geological and geomorphological interest. Marine Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and JNCC are working in partnership on the Scottish MPA Project. Further information on the project is available from the JNCC website.