On the 11th December 2014 the draft National Marine Plan for Scottish waters was submitted to Scottish Parliament. The plan will be critically examined during a 40 day period by parliament and Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee (RACCE). The plan covers Scotland’s inshore and offshore waters, with the primary aim to manage human […]
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries have issued its newsletter for December 2014. The content of the newsletter includes land obligations for fish catch, the EU Maritime Security Strategy’s Action Plan, new regulations for seafood labelling, the 8th annual European Maritime Day Conference (2015) in Greece, updates from the UN General Assembly 2014 (UNGA), the Portuguese “Basket […]
International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) has issued its newsletter for December 2014. The content of the newsletter includes fish otoliths and their assistance to ecosystem-based management, ICES Marine Spatial Planning Course in Copenhagen, multispecies stock assessment from the ICES Working Group on Multispecies Assessment Methods (WGSAM) and ICES training course to […]
The Treasury plans to help fund 1400 flood defence projects across England over the next six years. The Treasury will spend a £2.3 billion budget on flood defence infrastructure for 300,000 homes. Areas vulnerable to flooding such as the Thames Estuary, Humber Estuary and Somerset will be targeted for major investment to reduce the impacts of […]
The Royal Society has published a report entitled “Resilience to extreme weather”. The report examines how we reduce the impacts of extreme weather events and how prepared we are for future climate change. Climate-related extreme events such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves are documented in relation to human resilience. International agreements will be reached to […]
The Scottish Government has announced it is to creat a new new wave energy technology development body – Wave Energy Scotland. It will bring together expertise from engineering and academia to collaborate on innovative projects to accelerate the development of wave technology. Scottish waters offer the majority of the UK’s wave resources – potentially 46 TWh/year. For more […]
The North West Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NW-IFCA) has recently produced its Biosecurity Plan 2014-2019. The plan aims to reduce marine invasive non-native species (INNS) and shellfish disease within its territories. The plan presents the current marine environmental status within the NW-IFCA district, potential threats and measures to enhance biosecurity. For more information follow the link.
National Resource Wales (NRW) has recently produced an evidence report entitled “Welsh Coastal Storms, December 2013 & January 2014 – An assessment of environmental change”. The report is based on an environmental audit conducted by NRW to assess the impacts of last winter’s high tide/storm surge events on wildlife and coastal conservation sites in Wales. […]
Green Alliance has recently published a report entitled ‘UK offshore wind in the 2020s’. Targets to reduce carbon emissions from the generation of electricity will increase opportunities for offshore wind projects in the future. The report reviews the future difficulties and potential prospects for offshore wind projects in the UK. The report also presents a […]
Marine aggregate activity occupies a small proportion of the UK’s continental shelf for the construction industry. There is a responsibility for operators to manage their licensed areas and adopt sustainable extraction practices. The British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) published a sustainable development strategy to provide a framework for operators to follow. Following the strategy […]