Scientists waved on board project to protect seas

The university’s Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies (IECS) is one of 23 international research centres taking part in the 12m euro study intended to improve our knowledge of the impact of human activity and global climate change on marine biodiversity within European Seas, especially the Baltic Sea, the North East Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.

The four-year European Union project will involve more than 250 scientists from 12 EU countries, as well as from Ukraine, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the USA.

Among the issues it will seek to address are threats to the marine environment from increased industrialisation, fisheries exploitation, and the demand for offshore energy.

These issues are already being played out in waters closer to home, with the East Coast being home to one of the most lucrative shellfishing fleets in England, and ongoing plans to make the Humber region a UK hub for the offshore wind industry. The Holderness coast is also one of the fastest eroding in Northern Europe.

The research will be used to shape sea management policy, and the team is expected to produce a series of recommendations to this effect.

Professor Mike Elliott, director of IECS, was a major player in writing the proposal and is leading one of the eight work packages, as well as being on the project steering committee.

He said: “The project cements the university’s standing as a centre for multidisciplinary marine research and is worth approximately £360,000. This is particularly fitting, given that 2012 is the 30th anniversary of the institute.”

He added: “The goal is to advance our understanding and management of the changes in ecosystems and biodiversity in relation to human uses and abuses of the seas. The project focuses on measures for the sustainable use of seas and marine resources including fishing, aquaculture, shipping and marine energy.”

The university’s team includes staff in IECS as well as marine experts from its Business School, Law School and politics and international studies department.

The research will play a major part in the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive to control human uses of the European seas to 200 nautical miles offshore.

The directive, which established objectives for marine environment protection and conservation, has to be based upon the best scientific knowledge available.

To achieve this goal by 2020, member states must assess the marine environmental status of the seas, together with the impact of human activities.

Prof Richard Barnes, of the university’s Law School, said: “We will be analysing the European and national legal systems to determine whether these are suitable for the successful management of the European seas.”

The research will build on the work of two related and ongoing EU-funded projects by staff at the university, worth almost 20m euros.

The new project is being led by Dr Ángel Borja, principal investigator at the Marine Research Division of AZTI-Tecnalia in the Basque region, a Spanish technological and research centre.

Last month coastal erosion at Skipsea exposed dozens of houses to the North Sea.