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Lyme Bay – a case-study: measuring recovery of benthic species; assessing potential “spillover” effects and socio-economic changes with the closure of 60 square nautical miles to scallop dredging.

The reefs of Lyme Bay, an area off the UK’s south west coast, are home to a rich diversity of marine life including the pink sea fan Eunicella verrucosa, dead man’s fingers, Alcyonium digitatum, and a range of commercially important species such as the king scallop, Pecten maximus and edible crab Cancer pagarus.

Following concerns over the damage caused to fragile rocky reef habitats by bottom towed fishing gear, small areas of the reef were closed under voluntary agreement from 2001. On 11th July 2008, the UK government (Defra) implemented a Statutory Instrument (SI) termed 'The Lyme Bay Designated Area (Fishing Restrictions) Order 2008' extending these small closures to a 60 nm2 area, with the primary purpose of allowing recovery of reef biodiversity. Scallop dredging and bottom trawling are prohibited, but fishing with pots or nets and angling, diving and other recreational activities are still permitted. In 2010 Natural England recommended to Defra that a further area of the bay be submitted to the EC as a candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) under the EU Habitats Directive as the reefs fall under the habitat type as described in Annex 1.

Marine closures such as these restrict certain types of activity and are generally termed marine protected areas (MPAs). The closure in Lyme Bay is the largest MPA created to date in English waters with the goal of protecting species rather than for the benefit of fisheries and there are a multitude of impacts brought about by this type of closure.

In order to quantify these and assist in the planning of future MPAs, both the ecological and socio-economical consequences of the closure have been investigated over the course of 3 years. The Marine Institute, University of Plymouth, was commissioned to undertake this study with project partners: the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth Marine Laboratories Limited, and Marine Bio-Images. It was thought that following the closure, species within the protected area would start to recover due to the cessation of physical disturbance, and that there would be socio-economic implications, both positive and negative.

The findings of the study will be invaluable in helping to evaluate the effectiveness of MPAs as a tool for delivering marine nature conservation in UK waters. This study can be used as a cost-effective, comprehensive template for the future implementation and reporting for the MPA network to determine whether conservation objectives are being met. In addition it is vital in aiding the determination of the kinds of information that need to be collected to assess socio-economic implications.

Information gathered through the assessments is expected to provide insights from a socio-economic perspective into the process for establishing a network of MPAs in the UK. Furthermore, all new regulation in Government must be supported by the completion of an Impact Assessment (IA) which outlines what the 'costs' and 'benefits' of the new policy will be to society. All MPAs will need to have an IA produced and it's been recognised that there is a need to gather data from a socioeconomic perspective to inform the process of establishing a network of MPAs in the UK.

The pages relating to ‘Aims and objectives of the research’ provide more information about the project. For detailed reports please see ‘Press releases and reports’.