Research Project
The UK Government has made a commitment to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in UK waters in order to promote the conservation of marine habitats and species. Work is currently underway by Natural England (NE) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) to identify sites and recommend these to Government for designation.
The establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) attracts considerable public interest, since closing off areas restricts the use of the sea. In order to assist in the planning of MPAs it is important to identify the relative costs and benefits to society, associated with their establishment. We are still developing our understanding of what the 'costs' and 'benefits' of these sites will be and how to measure changes which occur within a site in a cost-effective manner.
The University of Plymouth and its partners (MBA, PML and Marine Bio-Images) are leading the study in Lyme Bay and will develop a cost-effective monitoring programme to quantify the recovery of reef communities including the target species (great scallop Pecten maximus) within the closed area. It is also likely that the closure of Lyme Bay will have socio-economic implications (in particular fishing) for human activities operating in the area. Any costs and benefits resulting from the closure will also be identified through consultation and engagement with stakeholders.
The project has been designed around the following objectives:
1 – To identify and select a number of key indicator species to monitor recovery of reef habitats;
2 – To develop a cost-effective sampling design for the monitoring of benthic recovery within the closure of an area;
3 – To quantify the recovery of the identified species within the closure with the removal of towed gear compared to appropriate control areas;
4 – To quantify and assess differences of adult scallop populations between the closed area and areas still open to scallop dredging; and
5 – To assess any socio-economic impacts, both costs and benefits (e.g. diversification, gear changes, changes to areas fished, effort changes) which result from the closure restrictions.
The project has now reached the end of its initial three year period (March 2011). Various elements have been reported throughout the life of the project and the final report is now being produced. An extension to the project has been granted and both the biodiversity and socio-economic work are to continue for another year. Further reports will therefore be available during this time.
For detailed reports relating to this work please see ‘Press releases and reports’
