Conservation Officer Report - January

[Paul D]

Just backtracking slightly, so that all of the 2013 Reports
will be available in this section of the forum.



Conservation
Officer Report- January 2013



PDSAA: 

Next meeting is January 20th 2013.



Angling
Trust:

- Angling Trust members who go sea angling are
being invited to take part in a vital research project into how they value the
UK's marine environment. 

AT would be grateful if you would take the time to
complete the survey by clicking HERE. The survey closes
on January 5th. Article



MCS
(Marine Conservation Society): 

-MEP’s have voted to strengthen MSY (Maximum
Sustainable Yield) regulations and impose the discard ban with a binding
timetable. 

-MEP's have also voted for an assessment of the EU
fleet essential for managing the future of the EU fishing fleet. 

-MEPs have called for the industry to contribute
to data collection and to freeze funding of illegal fishers. 

-MEP’s have reached agreements on TACs (Total
Allowable Catches) and quotas. 

-EU "fisheries quotas are mostly in line with
sustainability targets"- but many quotas set higher than scientific
advice. MCS’s opinion on the quota agreements:Opinion 

-EU Fisheries- Total Allowable
Catches

The UK Government has announced that out of the
127 recommended MCZ’s, its current intention is to create just 31. The view of
many bodies is that following extended consultation, and after the expenditure
of a significant amount of money, this demonstrates a lack of ambition and
would be a wasted opportunity to create the framework for a network of
protected sites around our coast, (comparable to the extensive network of
protected sites on dry land which we all take for granted), and that these 31
sites would be to isolated to provide the level of benefits envisioned by the
scheme. As common with most government initiatives, the final decision has not
yet been made.

- Microplastics in the oceans: EU being pushed to
ban. Dutch House of Representatives commit to ban. Unilever will phase out
plastic micro beads as ‘scrub’ material in personal care products by 2015. Story



DEFRA: 

-Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
update. 

The Government response to the MSFD consultation
has now been published. This can be found, along with the final Impact
Assessment, here: Response

The final UK Initial Assessment and
characteristics and targets of Good Environmental Status (GES), which will
together form the UK Marine Strategy Part One, have also been published [More data] and submitted to
the mission.

The Directive requires Member States to take
measures to achieve or maintain GES for their seas by 2020. GES involves
protecting the marine environment, preventing its deterioration and restoring
it where practical, while using marine resources sustainably. For the UK, the
Directive is part of a package of policies, united by our vision for 'clean,
healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas'. The
Directive's aims are consistent with this vision and current policies, such as
the implementation of the Marine and Coastal Access Act, and the reform of the
Common Fisheries Policy will play a major role in helping us achieve GES.

The joint consultation between Defra, the Northern
Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government was held
between 27 March and 18 June 2012. The consultation sought views on the
implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). We are
grateful for all the comments we received.

You can see further details on the Directive More reading.

If you have further questions, please contact
Defra: MSFDTeam@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Next Steps. Future consultations will be held to
cover proposals for the UK monitoring programmes for GES (Autumn 2013) and the
UK programmes of measures for achieving GES (Autumn 2014).

Also-

Defra proposed Marine Conservation Zone
sites announcement: DEFRA Announcement 

The Defra consultation on the proposed sites may
be found here: DEFRA Consultation 

(The
consultation site summary for Studland Bay- page 114 of annex A.5.)

To take part in this consultation please using
annex H and send responses to either: mcz@defra.gsi.gov.uk

or

MCZ Team, c/o Post Room, Nobel House, 17 Smith
Square, London, SW1P 3JR

Any responses should be received by Defra by
midnight on 31 March 2013.



MRC
(Marine Reserves Coalition):

-California's marine reserve network now complete;
including 9% of state waters designated as no-take areas LA Times

-Cook Islands create world's biggest shark
sanctuary - 1.9 milliom km2 Mahoosive



Dorset
Wildlife Trust:

-South Dorset MCZ- Article

-Fishing nets/ line vs. seabirds- In the Echo



Maria
Damanaki (EU Commissioner responsible for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries):

“I’m happy that @Europarl_EN vote introduces a
#discard ban with clear dates to put an end to wasteful practices that we can
no longer afford”



BBC
News: 

-US towns ban the sale of small water bottles
(reduce plastic waste, therefore reduce plastic waste in the oceans) Article



The
Independent:

-Shellfish reef off Scotland World's largest...
and it'll soon be protected

END OF REPORT