Frequently Asked Questions
This page is our attempt to answer all your burning questions about marine life and conservation in the South East. We will regularly add items to the site, so please feel free to send us new questions.
Q. Are there any marine nature reserves in the South East?
There are two kinds of Marine Protected Area in the South East: those that are protected by law, and those that operate on a voluntary basis without legal protection. European marine sites are areas designated under the European Habitats Directive and Birds Directive. In our region, the European marine sites are: Thames Estuary, Swale and Medway, North East Kent, Dungeness to Pett Level, South Wight Maritime and Solent Maritime. However, the protection offered by these sites is not necessarily effective. For example, rare mussel beds in a European marine site in Northern Ireland have recently been completely destroyed by legal fishing activities. There are also several non-statutory Marine Protected Areas in the South East, all off the Sussex coast. These include the Seven Sisters Voluntary Marine Conservation Area, and a number of marine Sites of Nature Conservation Interest. The purpose of these sites is to raise awareness of our marine habitats and influence the way in which they are managed. Overall, less than 0.5% of the region’s sea area receives any protection at all.
Q. How healthy are the seas off South East England?
We know far less about the health of our seas than we do about habitats on land, but there are clear signs that all is not well.
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The common skate has become commercially extinct (ie so rare that it’s not worth fishing for) in the southern North Sea.
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Cod and herring stocks in the North Sea are outside ‘safe biological limits’ (ie at the point of collapse).
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Some parts of the North Sea and English Channel are disturbed by beam trawl fisheries more than 400 times per year.
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Since the 1950s there has been a dramatic decline in the population of harbour porpoise in the English Channel.
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High levels of pesticides have been found in the blubber of dolphins in the North Sea.
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Hormone-mimicking pollutants are affecting the reproduction of fish and other animals in our estuaries.
There are also some signs of improvement in recent years – for example the Thames Estuary is much cleaner than it was in the 1950s – but overall the picture is bleak.
Q. Is it OK to eat fish?
Yes – but try to be very selective about the source of the fish you buy, whether at a fish market, supermarket, fish ‘n’ chip shop, or restaurant. All major supermarkets now stock seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as from a sustainable source. Visit http://www.msc.org/ for more information. The Marine Conservation Society has recently published The Good Fish Guide, giving advice on choosing environmentally-friendly fish to eat. You can order a copy at http://www.mcsuk.org/.
Q. How will climate change affect the marine environment?
Climate change will affect our marine wildlife and habitats in two major ways. At the coast, which serves as a vital larder, maternity ward and nursery for so much of our marine life, rising sea levels will squeeze precious intertidal habitats up against manmade defences until they have nowhere to go. In the last 100 years, 75% of the saltmarsh in England and Wales was lost due to land claim and erosion. Without managed retreat we stand to lose much of the remainder.
Climate change will also affect the distribution of marine species in our waters. It is possible that populations of cold water species such as cod and herring may decline, while warm water species like mullet and sole may thrive. Species currently on the southern edge of their range may disappear, and we can expect to see new arrivals swimming, crawling and drifting north. We may see the slipper limpet and leathery seasquirt joined by a host of other introduced species as conditions become clement for them. The issue will repeatedly challenge our perceptions of what is important and how we should protect it.
Research will be vital in understanding the impacts of climate change on the marine environment, and studies from local waters may well play their part. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight lie in the transition zone between two water bodies - one warm and one cold - and population studies of barnacles, limpets and other species as they adapt to changing conditions may well reflect wider trends. For further information about the impacts of climate change on marine biodiversity please click here.
Q. Does extraction of sand and gravel from the seabed pose a threat to wildlife?
Currently, sand and gravel taken from the sea make up 21% of the supply in England and Wales. These materials - known as marine aggregate - are used by the construction industry (e.g. in concrete) and for replenishing beaches that have eroded away.
The sand and gravel is dredged from the seabed at a number of sites around the UK. In the South East, the most important sites are off the Isle of Wight, Hastings and in the East Channel Region, 35 km south of Eastbourne.
Marine aggregate extraction has drastic short-term effects on marine wildlife and habitats, and we are only beginning to understand the process of recovery. The Wildlife Trusts are working with the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association to develop a better understanding of the industry and its impacts.
A national conference took place in 2003, organised by The Wildlife Trusts in association with CMS, to promote discussion of the key issues.
For more information about the marine aggregates industry visit http://www.bmapa.org/ and http://www.crownestate.co.uk/.
