Can Marine Protection Zones save Yorkshire's seas?

Most conservation projects are easily identifiable. It’s the helpful information boards and heritage signposts which tend to the give them away, along with the repeated appeals for public donations.

However, the two new protection areas which recently appeared on the map of Yorkshire are significantly more difficult to find. A good few miles out to sea, there are no helpful markers and should you want to go exploring you’ll need a decent compass, a boat and a wet suit.

The Holderness Inshore and Runswick Bay Marine Protection Zones are two of 23 areas around Britain’s coastline which from this week have gained increased protection. Stretching from Northumberland down to Land’s End and including Europe’s largest chalk reef, the announcement by the Government came following a six year battle by conservation groups to afford the kind of protection given to wildflower meadows to what lies beneath the waves.

It’s been a campaign marred by false hope and broken promises and while the latest move has been largely welcomed by groups like the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, which have been at the forefront of the campaign, as the dust settles, there are real doubts as to how much protection the zones will offer from the destructive dredging and trawling which has devastated so many marine populations.

The 50 earmarked zones (27 were already in place before Sunday’s announcement) falls some way short of the original target of 127 which was outlined in the Marine Conservation Act 2009. A further 65 areas, which were to be completely protected from fishing, have also been dropped and with the zones currently just virtual lines on the waves, it remains to be seen how they will be effectively policed to protect the various vulnerable populations, which range from seahorses to jellyfish.

One of the most vocal critics of recent government policy has been Callum Roberts, Professor of marine conservation at York University and author of Ocean of Life: How our Seas Are Changing. First published in 2012, over 400 pages, Prof Roberts persuasively argued that unless we changed our current course, eventually all that would be left of our marine environment would be ‘mud and worms’.

“We need more zones because the network we have is far from complete,” he said. “The reality is that despite the 50 MCZs which are now in place, the UK’s rich marine life still has very little protection. That may sound paradoxical, but six years after the Marine Act was passed, MCZs are still paper parks. They have no management at all, so life within them remains unprotected. They will be worse than useless, giving the illusion of protection where none is present.

“The 65 reference areas, the one bit of the network which was really critical, were dropped and while the UK is giving full protection from fishing to huge areas of our overseas territories in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, we urgently need the same high levels of protection in our home waters.”

Prof Roberts is not alone in fearing the zones will lack teeth, but in response to concerns the Government has insisted that is working to ensure management measures are put in place within two years. Given the protracted way in which the Bill was introduced, those assurances have fell on stoney ground.

“I am deeply sceptical about what it will achieve,” added Prof Roberts. “Worryingly there are already moves to open up a ‘special area of conservation’ in Cardigan Bay to scallop dredging. It is one of the most destructive fishing methods in the world, turning habitats into rubble and leaving trails of dead and dying creatures in its wake.”

It’s not just dredging which has left many seas in critical condition. Pollution, climate change, rubbish, invasive species and over-fishing have all contributed to the current poor state of British waters and declining fish stocks.

Back in the 1970s, Whitby harbour was packed with trawlers and the cod the fishermen caught weighed around 50lbs. Today the number of trawlers operating from the port is in single figures and tourism has replaced fishing as the coastal town’s major industry.

While anecdotally catches are said to be more abundant then they were 10 years ago, it’s nothing compared to the volume of fish which was being landed from North Sea boats 40 years ago. In fact such has been the decline in traditional fish populations that some experts believe a third of the seas would have to be closed to fishing if stocks and their supporting ecosystems are to completely recover.

“Yorkshire’s waters have seen a significant increase in scallop dredging in recent years,” says Bex Lynam, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s North Sea marine advocacy officer. “It’s can have a huge impact on crab and lobster habitats and we don’t know yet what the long term effect previous activity will have on an area like Holderness Inshore.

“These seabed habitats, which people often hear little about and which they cannot see for themselves, support a wealth of wildlife which people recognise and love. Marine food chains are often complex, but if you take something like the puffin, it eats a variety of fish, but predominantly sandeels. In turn those sandeels feed off zooplankton, which depends on a healthy seabed to survive and reproduce.

“Those tiny creatures might not mean much to most people, but without them the knock-on effect for seabirds like the puffins is obvious.”

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests protection zones don’t just help maintain existing levels of marine populations, but can help to reverse a decline of specific species. However, in countries likes Australia, which has enjoyed protection over a number of years, the key has been an entire network of zones, spread across a large area, which has allowed populations to migrate.

“At Runswick Bay, kelps and red seaweeds dominate the shallow rocky areas providing refuge for all manner of marine animals, including crabs, anemones and starfish,” adds Bex. “Elsewhere, areas of deeper water are important spawning and nursery grounds for herring, sprat, cod and plaice.

“In the Holderness Inshore area, which stretches from Skipsea to Spurn Point, eight species of crab have been recorded and the seafloor is a rich mosaic of habitats home to sponges, starfish and a huge array of fish.

“There is still much we don’t know about how the zones will work, what sanctions will be for those who don’t abide by the regulations and how exactly they will be managed, but it is a first step. As an island nation we are surrounded by water, but all too often we don’t stop to think about the wildlife it is home to and the consequences for us all if it disappears.”