A marine licence is required if you are undertaking any of the marine licensable activities listed in Section 66 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) are the marine licensing authority for English inshore …
Climate change is bad news for everyone, from the prospect of fewer and smaller fish in the sea to the communities that will be affected by coastal erosion and flooding. I don’t think there has ever been such awareness of …
In November 2020, Tristan da Cunha made international news when it designated 687,000 square kilometres of its waters as a fully protected Marine Protection Zone (MPZ) - the largest in the Atlantic. This follows-on from an important earlier announcement - …
The United Kingdom is surrounded by some of the world’s busiest seas. The English Channel alone accounts for up to 20% of global maritime trade and connects the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. This means that there is an …
In March this year, members of the Blue Belt team hosted a roundtable discussion on Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME). PAME is a tool to assess how well protected areas – including Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) – are being managed …
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) have been involved in the preparation for the 47th G7 Summit, which is being held between 11 – 13 June at the Carbis Bay Hotel, near St Ives, Cornwall. The G7 is made up of …
On the International Day against Illegal Fishing, it’s good to be reminded about the challenges illegal fishing presents to the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) within the Blue Belt Programme and the measures that they take to reduce the risks to their marine environments.
Our survey of fishers in England’s under-12m fleet on their requirements for an I-VMS device that’s suitable for their vessel closed this week. More than 360 fishers completed the online poll, and we would like to thank each of you …
Guest blog on Operation Seabird with Geoff Edmond, National Wildlife Coordinator for the RSPCA.
MMO officers join operation targeting modern slavery and human trafficking in the shellfish industry.
Vastly increased offshore patrols, aerial surveillance and monitoring have ensured illegal fishing has been kept at bay in England’s seas since the UK became an independent coastal state on 1 January 2021.