More Votes needed for Marine reserves!

[sergei]

and i hope that i could come to dive your coast one day..

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by Dangerousa

I've voted, even though I don't officially have any standing in the UK governmental terms.

This is something I am very interested in raising locally, on the Isle of Man.

We have the Calf of Man which is designated as a reserve above the waterline, but is potted heavily, and worse dregged heavily for scallops.
The bottom 100mtrs from the walls around most of this area is like a ploughed field, and almost lifeless.

We have loads of available fishing areas, and it seems sensible to me, and many others, to make the Calf a marine reserve as well.

This is an election year on the Isle of Man, so as the campaign continues we will be suggesting this to all the candidates for the House of Keys (our government).
If later I have a petition or such like put on the forums, I was hoping I could count on people's support.
Something along the lines of " I would be more inclined to visit the Isle of Man for diving holidays, if I knew there were marine reserves in place there..." is what I'm thinking.

Dangerousa

Me too and I've got less than you but I doubt they'll be looking too closely at addresses. Anyway, I'm still a UK citizen and so are you I think.

On the subject at hand, I can certainly give my support to this concept; we have a number of Marine Reserves here in Tas, ranging from under a square km to some which are hunfreds of sq km and they make a hell of a difference to the marine fauna you see on a given dive. It gives you a good idea of how the seas here would have been a hundred or more years ago - amazing.

British waters are, if anything richer than ours, so one can only imagine how strategically positioned no-take reserves in Britain would look after 10 or 15 years.

In the case of the Bicheno Marine reserve on our East Coast, well the Bicheno Dive Centre has built a business around this reserve which attracts divers from interstate and international destinations. When I dive with them, it's quite normal to have a couple of Brits, Canadians, Americans or Europeans in the boat with us.

Bicheno Dive Centre


Marine Reserves of Tasmania - A Visitor's Guide 

[Ahoy]

Done. Good thread.
S.

Originally Posted by Lou

Please click and sign-up to help the MCS get more MArine reserves in the UK. they have 4000 plus signatures, but need more than 10,000!

Done

Ax

[Chris R]

Even I managed it. Excellent idea AND easy!

[Diver Dale]

Done

[ratcliffe]

Originally Posted by Diver Dale

Done

and dunner

[StephenTh]

Hello
On 20th October "keith henson" posted a comment in this thread containing a point about the possible licensing of diving in SAC's (Special Areas of Conservation) in future. -

" In May 2006 we submitted a fishery stop order on the bay, for 60sq miles to have it designated as an MPA. If designated as a SAC, all activities (including diving) would have to be licensed to show that there would not be a significant impact on the particular species that the site was designated for and that no adverse effect would occur on the integrity of the site."

This is potentially of great concern for diving in Wales, as much of the diveable coastline and inshore areas are within SACs - Carmarthen Bay, Pembrokeshire, Cardigan Bay, Lleyn Peninsula and Menai Straits. (see here for details of these SACs, including maps in most cases).

Also, when I've talked with CCW (Countryside Council for Wales) and managers of the Skomer Marine Reserve in the past about likely future developments, they've always assured me that there are no plans for restrictions or licensing of leisure divers and diving.

I've been in touch with the SAC officers in Pembrokeshire and Camarthanshire over this specific point, and have recently got back the following reply -

"This is incorrect and misleading. It muddles several different aspects of marine SAC (Special Area of Conservation - a European Marine Site) management – which is perhaps understandable as the subject is far from straightforward. In a nutshell, all ‘plans or projects’ that require some kind of licence, consent or permission before they can proceed must be assessed for their likely impact on an SAC, and must not be permitted if they will be damaging. This includes such diverse things as building developments, planning permissions, oil exploration, fisheries developments that have to licensed, and so on. It does not include day to day activities that do not need specific permission, or do not need some kind of prior approval; most, if not all, recreational activities on and around the sea fall into this category. Such activities as these should be managed, where there is risk of damage to SACs, by the most appropriate regulatory agency so as to minimise or remove that risk. Such management could be through many mechanisms, from codes of conduct or zoning of activities to introduction of new byelaws if necessary. However, the important point here is that they must be based on risk of damage to the SAC; low or nil risk activities will not need to be subject to additional controls.

Responsible recreational diving is unlikely to cause damage in an SAC; but on the other hand, for example, irresponsible driving of dive boats has the potential to cause significant disturbance to species such as seals or dolphins. Responsible divers appreciate their chosen recreational environment. It doesn't take much time or thought to work out what is harmless and what might be damaging or disturbing, so think before you dive!"

So, in summary - no plans for licensing of leisure diving, and seemingly no provision in the Marine Bill for there to be any.

Of course, we all recognise the value of the marine environment, including the wonderful areas within the Welsh marine SACs, and I'm sure we wouldn't want to do anything to harm this.

[Mark_1]

Ive signed.

Responsible recreational diving is unlikely to cause damage The only way to dive

[Pete H]

Done