Spring 2006

The edge The magazine of CoastNET

Spring 2006

Special issue 1:

The Marine Bill Marine protected areas

Statutory support for partnerships

Marine management, New Zealand style

Marine Bill – views from the ground

Contents 3

Editorial

4

News

6

Spring 2006

The Marine Bill – a view from Defra Defra’s Dave Bench gives the Government’s

Special issue 1: The Marine Bill

view on the Marine Bill.

CoastNET – breathing new life into coastal matters

The edge is a quarterly magazine, sent out to all CoastNET members. CoastNET is an international networking organisation that works with all coastal interests to promote the exchange of ideas, information and expertise to find long term solutions to coastal problems that benefit all. Our mission is to safeguard the world’s coast and those communities of people and wildlife that depend upon it for their future. Editor: Lesley Smeardon [email protected] Designed by: Cottier & Sidaway Printed by: Gildenburgh Ltd Submissions To submit an article for publication, please email to the editor saving your submission as a word document. Alternatively, send to the address below. Letters can be sent to the editor but we are unable to acknowledge receipt. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions.

CoastNET: The Gatehouse, Rowhedge Wharf, High St, Rowhedge, Essex, CO5 7ET. Tel/Fax: 01206 728644 Email: [email protected] Web: www.coastnet.org.uk CoastNet is governed by an independent Board of Management and serviced by a Secretariat. Registered charity no 1055763 Registered as a company limited by guarantee, company no 3204452

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Testing the water So just what is the most pressing issue for the

22 The TheEdge edge Winter Spring 2006 2006

10

Marine Bill? CoastNET asked 16 organisations with a stake in coastal or marine issues what they think.

10 Marine Protected Areas: a lifeline for fisheries? Professor Callum Roberts puts the case for Marine Protected Areas in marine and fisheries management.

12 12 Marine management – a perspective from New Zealand New Zealand’s National Manager of Fisheries Operations, Jonathan Peacey gives the NZ perspective on fisheries and marine management.

14 Windmills on the plains Brian Shipman explores the need for statutory support for partnerships

14 16 CoastNET events

The opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of CoastNET. © CoastNET, 2006

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Editorial Our lead article this issue (Testing the water, p7-9) raises marine spatial planning as one of the key issues for the Marine Bill. However, with marine spatial planning seemingly a certainty (at least as much as anything can be in a Parliamentary process), and with the new terrestrial planning system coming into force since the commencement of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004), I strike a cautionary note among all the enthusiasm.

I

recently trawled through the Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) issued by the Office of the

Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to guide the new regional spatial strategies (RSSs) and local development frameworks (LDFs) for terrestrial spatial planning. Those that have been published so far include RSS and LDF guidance, and cover biodiversity and geological conservation, sustainable development, renewable energy, planning and pollution, and more. In all these hundreds of pages of planning guidance, the word coast (or coastal) appears less than 20 times! The coast is virtually invisible. You may argue that we have planning policy guidance for the coast (PPG20). But this is a hangover from a previous system, is out of date, with no plans to revise it as a PPS. Presumably, it will one day be rescinded and then the coast really will be invisible. My concern is not only with terrestrial planning. I wonder if the same oversight is likely in a marine spatial planning system? There is a logic at work that planning guidance should focus on generic, thematic issues rather than geographical areas, such as the coast.

A vital question we should all address is whether the coast is different from the sea or the land? Does it need a special focus? I would argue that it clearly is different. The dynamic nature of coastal sediment movements and the land-sea interaction which drive them are not found in either wholly terrestrial systems or wholly marine ones. It is this dynamic system which is the root cause of many of the difficult planning issues on the coast and for this reason alone the coast should have a special focus. However, it’s not just in relation to this issue that we should consider the to coast special. In relation development, and biodiversity, recreational activity the coast is also unique. While these are generic issues,

It is a compelling case in my view for a special focus in planning (be it terrestrial or marine) for the coast. In fact this is recognised in the following excerpt from PPG 20: “1.1 The coast is an important national resource. A range of economic and social activities require coastal locations, and certain natural and historic landscapes and habitats are particular to coastal areas. Concerns about rising sea levels and the need for development to be sustainable are focusing increased attention on the special value of the coast.” I don’t think anything has now changed do you?

they are experienced at the coast to a unique degree. There are also unique factors at work which complicate potential solutions, such as common law rights to access the foreshore and navigation, and the complexity of management, which involves far more institutions of government, and

Alex Midlen, Chair of CoastNET

user groups than you will find inland or at sea.

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N ew s New parliamentary group champions coastal and marine issues Following a successful inaugural meeting of the new all party parliamentary group (APPG) on marine and coastal issues in February, the group has pledged to champion coastal and marine issues. The first meeting focused on flood protection and coastal defence with a presentation from Malcolm Kerby, about the Happisburgh Campaign in Norfolk. Also presenting was Robert Caudwell, Chair of Anglian Regional Flood Defence Committee, who highlighted the hidden communities living in caravan parks throughout the year who are very vulnerable to undefended shorelines. Discussions centred around social justice in the interaction between coastal communities and coast protection and flood defence policy which included: ● the rights of the individual property owner ● the viability and social status of communities ● the possibility of a ‘hidden community’ on the coast (residing, unregistered, in caravan parks) ● the power of communities to engage in decision-making ● the role of central government in development control (where government directly approves major infrastructure projects, such as power stations). Nearly 40 MPs are now members with others expressing interest in this newly formed group. While a firm date has not been agreed for the next meeting it is likely to be in June with a focus on the Marine Bill. For anyone wishing to find out more about the APPG please contact Dr Theresa Redding: [email protected]

Also in the news ● It’s Magic – The new Coastal and Marine Resource Atlas (MAGIC) was formally launched in January. Its aim is to provide a one-stop shop for planning how the UK protects the environment in cases of oil spills at sea. It replaces outdated hard copy maps of the UK’s coastline using regularly-updated marine data. Find MAGIC at: www.magic.gov.uk/camra.html

● UK Marine Environmental High Risk Areas identified – In February, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced a total of 32 locations around the UK coast that have been identified as Marine Environmental High Risk Areas (MEHRAs). These MEHRAs will inform mariners of areas of high environmental sensitivity where there is a realistic risk of pollution from merchant shipping. Among areas identified include the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, The Farne Islands, Dungeness and Portland. More information can be found at the Department for Transport website: www.dft.gov.uk

● Wave farm looks set to

weather storms in Irish Sea – Plans for a Welsh wave farm with the capacity to supply electricity to 60,000 homes looks set to go ahead with news that the Welsh European Funding Office will fund the first stage of the project. The first Wave Dragon device is set to be deployed off the coast of West Wales in mid2007 in time for the winter storms on the Irish Sea. Source: www.edie.net

Residents living in coastal caravan parks year-round can be very vulnerable to undefended shorelines.

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The edge Spring 2006

C o a s t N ET n ew s ● New Masters course in

Marine Environmental Management – The University of York is to launch a new MSc course in Marine Environmental Management in October 2006. The course is aimed at people who want to pursue a career in marine conservation or marine resource management and can be taken either as a 12-month Masters degree or nine-month Diploma. For full details of the course go to: www.york.ac.uk/depts/eeem/

● Communicating climate change – If you’re about to communicate climate change to a wider and more public audience, a number of resources may help you in the task. ● The rules of the game – principles to help change public attitudes towards climate change in the UK. Summary version available from www.futerracom.org under publications. The full version can be found on the defra website. www.defra.gov.uk ● A guide to communicating climate change – A short brochure available online at www.climatechallenge.gov.uk ● Painting the town green – report from Green-engage looking at dos and don’ts of communicating green living. Copies cost £20 or a pdf version £10. Call Transport 2000 on 020 7613 0743.

Workshop highlights low awareness of the Water Framework Directive Over 40 participants took part in CoastNET’s second Marine Bill workshop on 20 March in London. Delivered on behalf of the Environment Agency the workshop focused on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in estuaries and coastal waters and raised far more questions than were answered, reflecting the rapidly evolving nature of coastal and marine policy. Three principal issues emerged during the day: ● awareness and education ● engagement ● integration. At a strategic level, much work has been undertaken on the Directive but regional and local level organisations are only now becoming involved as guidance for implementation is issued. What became clear at the workshop is, at the local and regional level, awareness of the Directive is generally low, highlighting the need for a significant communications task to be undertaken. Also debated was integration and the difficulty of this due largely to the

complexity of the coast in an administrative sense. For many participants the juxtaposition of the terrestrial spatial planning system with an anticipated marine spatial planning system, overlain by the Water Framework Directive and ICZM was a lot to take in. Defra and Environment Agency speakers stressed that the Directive could only be implemented by the widest range of authorities working together. These organisations must therefore be positively engaged with the whole process as the Directive implementation is a collective responsibility.

See www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wfd for more information on the Directive. CoastNET will be compiling a full workshop report later in the year.

Public engagement workshops Over 130 delegates from across England, Wales and Scotland came to share their experiences of good communication in public engagement in a series of five regional workshops set up by CoastNET throughout January and March this year. The workshops were intended as an opportunity for delegates to share their experiences of successful public engagement activities and the key drivers that led to these successes. As well as the positives, there was opportunity to consider those particular audiences that are hard to communicate with and to explore ways in which they could be reached. Also discussed were the key coastal issues delegates felt needed to be raised with the public. Overall, the top three were:

●

●

●

Pressure on marine resources/overexploitation and its consequences, eg fishing, dredging etc Coastal changes in relation to climate change and raising awareness of what will happen and the need for action now. The need for better governance and sound decision making in coastal management.

The official workshop report will be published on our website in summer 2006 and a toolkit for good communication in public engagement to be published later in the year.

For more details on the toolkit or workshop report contact Erin Pettifer: [email protected]

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The Marine Bill – a view from Defra With the anticipation and lobbying that is following the Government’s upcoming Marine Bill around, you might be forgiven for thinking it has become something of a holy grail among coastal and marine professionals. But how does Defra see this Bill and where is it going? Dave Bench, Head of Marine Legislation at Defra gives a round up of the Bill’s aims and progress.

ur coastline and seas play a significant role in UK industry. Shipping, fishing, and wind farming for example, operate alongside a huge leisure industry, in an important but vulnerable natural environment.

O

The Bill will have sustainable development at its heart and our main goal is to create a new system for marine planning which reconciles competing demands, increases certainty for developers, and helps us protect the marine environment.

Despite the sea’s importance, we do not fully co-ordinate how we manage our demands on it. The Marine Bill will create a framework that helps us to manage our activities to reduce adverse impact on each other and on the marine environment. This framework will need to accommodate changing demands and priorities that could result from climate change, changes in technology, or new human activities.

Different industries operating in UK waters are controlled under different regimes. We are looking at ways to rationalise the way Government operates these licensing systems.

Designing a flexible system is an enormous challenge for Government. A few years ago we would not have predicted the extent of wind farm development. In future we may need to find space for wave and tidal power, and other technologies yet to be developed. We want the Marine Bill to make a real difference and be flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. The detailed proposals for the Bill are still being determined, but the main themes are clear.

6 The edge Spring 2006

A new planning system and streamlined licensing arrangements should improve the speed, accountability and transparency of development decisions, while ensuring sustainable development and protection of our valuable marine environment.

A new marine organisation? We are also considering whether a new Marine Management Organisation is needed. It could provide the focus for delivering the new functions provided by the Marine Bill and it might take on complementary roles already undertaken by Government.

Progress and involvement There will be considerable opportunity to join the debate and contribute views whatever your interest in our coasts and seas. A consultation exercise was launched on 29 March 2006 and there will be some Marine Bill Forums in May (see www.defra.gov.uk for details). There will be further consultations later when more detailed proposals are published.

Marine Protected Areas and fisheries provision We may widen the scope of nature conservation laws and we are considering arrangements for marine protected areas. We want legislation that enables us to protect marine species and habitats when and where it is necessary. The Bill will also implement new arrangements to allow better management of inshore fisheries.

Dave Bench is Head of Marine Legislation Division at Defra Email: [email protected] Web: www.defra.gov.uk

Testing the water The reach of the forthcoming Marine Bill will be long and wide affecting the interests of many. CoastNET decided to conduct its own straw poll asking 16 organisations representing a diverse section of marine and coastal interests what they consider to be the most pressing issues the Marine Bill must tackle. What is the most pressing issue the Marine Bill must tackle and why? British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA), trade association for the

British Marine Federation (BMF), trade

marine aggregate industry.

Simplifying the marine consents regime is a key opportunity presented by the Marine Bill. For too long, the consents process in the coastal zone has been bureaucratic, involving many players, resulting in duplication, frustration and significant costs, with limited benefit to the environment.

Ask most development interests what they really want and the chances are the answer will be greater certainty of the environment in which they operate – not only the planning and regulatory environment, but also the natural. For the Marine Bill to deliver greater certainty there must be a commitment to improve our understanding of the broad scale environment – something that will require significant investment over time to resolve. Mark Russell, Director, Marine Aggregates

association for the UK marine leisure industry

BMF's vision for the Marine Bill is one that safeguards both marine resources and livelihoods by embracing sustainable development, delivering a transparent and consistent approach in all its decision making. Sally Banham, Assistant Director

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North West Coastal Forum, The Bill is a once-in-a-generation chance to deliver better protection for marine wildlife. It offers a critical opportunity to develop a network of Highly Protected Marine Reserves and, through development of an effective framework for the integrated assessment, consenting and control of maritime activity and off-shore development, could enable delivery of truly sustainable management of the marine environment. Caroline Salthouse, Regional Coastal Project Officer and North West Coastal Forum Secretariat

English Heritage, protects and promotes England's historic environment

Marine Spatial Planning is our main issue. The draft bill must set out what planning at sea will include and how it will be delivered qualifying the responsibilities between authorities. We provide independent advice to Government and we require a Bill that helps to protect in-situ maritime archaeological material because this is the best way to ensure its long term future. Dr Chris Pater, Marine Planner, Maritime Archaeology Team

Environment Agency, leading public body for protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is the top priority. It's what we need to make sure that human activities don't conflict, and that they fit in with the needs of the marine environment. MSP will need a statutory base and should apply to all users and regulators, directly linking the management of land and sea. Jim Andrews, Marine Policy Manager

Thames Estuary Partnership, provides a neutral forum for local authorities, national agencies, industry, voluntary bodies and local communities to work together for the good of the Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary Partnership considers the lack of sustainable spatial planning within the marine environment as a key concern. For too long coastal activities have operated in conflict with little communication or without adopting a strategic approach. The challenge is therefore getting all stakeholders including fishermen, developers, aggregates extraction, port operators, recreational users to operate together in a more co-ordinated and sustainable manner. Jill Goddard, Executive Director

The National Trust, NGO working to preserve and protect the coastline, countryside and buildings of England, Wales and Northern Ireland The National Trust thinks that there is a pressing case for the development of a marine spatial planning system to help halt the decline in marine biodiversity. On land the planning system helps to shape society's thinking about land use and development. No such system exists below the low water mark, yet there is a real need to plan ahead and there are often conflicts of interest or competition for resources and space – fisheries and aquaculture, recreation, shipping, off-shore oil, gas and renewables, and aggregate extraction. All these could have a significant further impact on marine wildlife, archaeology and the coastal landscape. Rob Jarman, Head of environmental practices and sustainability

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National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisation, representative

British Wind Energy Association, trade and

body for fishermen in England and Wales

professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries.

From the fishing industry perspective, the Marine Bill would offer an opportunity to tackle chaotic and unco-ordinated seabed developments. A UK framework, that would ensure consent decisions are founded on robust, representative fisheries and environmental data and would prevent the siting of wind farms or aggregate dredging on prime fishing grounds, is essential.

The Marine Bill is a unique opportunity to more effectively and efficiently manage economic and environmental interests in the marine environment. The offshore renewable energy industry would like this legislation to lead to a more streamlined consenting procedure that works in the framework of a detailed and accurate planning system. This would mean that developers have access to data and awareness of potential conflicts when first considering sites. This should mean more certainty and a reduction in regulation. Importantly, this would also allow the marine environment to undergo a sustainable development approach that would mean that developers and conservationists are able to work closer together to solve problems.

Doug Beveridge

Michael Hay, Marine Renewables Development Manager

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British Ports Association, organisation representing UK ports

The Marine Bill represents an opportunity. The current system of coastal management and coastal consents is complex and confusing. We believe that there is a lack of understanding of coastal dynamics and processes. If Marine Spatial Planning can be deployed constructively to defuse potential conflict, and if better regulation can be delivered by new Maritime Management Organisation, then we support the Bill. Thinking needs to be adventurous. David Whitehead, Director

United Kingdon Hydrographic Office, a government Trading Fund and part of the Ministry of Defence providing navigational products and services to the Royal Navy and the merchant marine in compliance with Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Regulations The most pressing issue from the UKHO’s perspective is the need for a common and consistent legislative framework within which policy and planning decisions can be made. Whilst accepting there will be differences with existing planning regulations on land, it needs to be as seamless as possible. This requires a base reference geospatial map which is interoperable across the littoral zone and into the terrestrial environment. This will support the definitive referencing of maritime conservation areas, planned marine national parks and habitat mapping, as well as underpinning a streamlined consents regime for the UK Continental Shelf.

Scottish Coastal Forum, established by Government to encourage debate on coastal issues at national level and provide advice.

Surfers against Sewage, NGO campaigning for clean, safe recreational waters

Current fragmented legislation is woefully inadequate at recognising the needs of modern recreational water users such as surfers, sailors and divers. To prevent important recreational areas from environmental degradation and to aid in water quality improvement, they need to be recognised within a formal spatial planning process. Without this, only traditional 'bathing' waters will have any degree of recognition and only for a few summer months. Andrew Knights, Campaign Researcher

English Nature, Government agency championing the conservation of wildlife and geology throughout England.

The most pressing issue for the Marine Bill is a legal basis for spatial management to help secure the structure, function and processes of marine ecosystems and ensure a sustained but improved flow of benefits for human use and appreciation. Critical elements are spatial planning, a national protected area network, and areas of higher protection for recovery to benchmark sustainability and rebuild resilience in the face of climate change. Dr Mark Duffy, Maritime Manager

The Scottish Coastal Forum's members represent many key marine and coastal stakeholders and have many different views on a variety of issues related to marine and coastal management. The most pressing issue being raised by deliberations on the UK Marine Bill is the way in which devolved and reserved matters are managed. Marine processes do not adhere to artificial boundaries imposed by humans for socio-economic or political purposes, but in order to manage human impacts on the environment it is often necessary to delineate responsibilities by drawing boundaries. The UK Marine Bill should therefore recognise the ability of the devolved administrations to govern national interests while retaining a broader integrated approach, both within the UK and across Europe, that is so vital to management of our coasts and seas. Stephen Midgley, Project Officer

United Kingdom Offshore Operations Association (UKOOA), the representative organisation for the oil and gas companies licensed by the UK government to explore for and produce hydrocarbons offshore around the British Isles

The Marine Bill must acknowledge the importance of the offshore oil and gas industry to the British economy and the benefits it brings through investment, jobs, tax revenues and secure primary energy supplies. It should recognise that the industry's activities are not incompatible with high standards of environmental management and should reflect the emphasis the offshore oil and gas sector already places on the protection of the marine environment.

Wildlife and Countryside Link, bringing together environmental voluntary organisations in the UK united by their common interest in the conservation and enjoyment of the natural and historic environment.

Link believes that the Marine Bill offers a critical opportunity to provide for the designation of a representative network of Nationally Important Marine Sites (NIMS), which must include a suite of Highly Protected Marine Reserves (HPMRs). The Bill is a once-in-ageneration chance to deliver better protection for marine wildlife. If it does not do this it will have failed.

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MPAs – a lifeline for fisheries? The UK has an important sea fishing industry with one of the largest fishing fleets and fish processing industries in Europe. But reducing stocks, due in part to over-fishing have put pressures on the industry’s very sustainability. Could Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have the answer? Professor Callum Roberts puts the case forward.

One reason for the lack of marine reserves is that fishers are naturally wary of new restrictions over their fishing activity, fearing that they will make a difficult occupation ever harder. This was one reason that led to the rejection of a proposal in 2005 to phase in a new marine reserve zone in the Skomer Marine Nature Reserve off the Welsh Coast. Despite the reassuring name, marine life remains largely unprotected there.

M

arine reserves are areas that are protected from all fishing and other extractive or harmful human uses. They provide refuges for marine wildlife from the near ubiquitous reach of fishing hooks, nets, trawls and dredges that supply our ever-growing appetite for seafood. In places where long-established, wellmanaged reserves have been studied, this protection has been shown to yield astonishing increases in the quantity and diversity of life present. With sustained management effort, the aggregate weight of commercial fish in reserves can rise by five, 10 or even 20-fold in as many years of protection. Rare species become more

Fishing trawler

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common, and species that had been all but lost can return. Such gains indicate two things: first that the depletion of marine life by fishing is severe and pervasive; and second that it can be reversed. At present, relatively few marine reserves have been established in Europe and they are scattered and small in size. Britain has only a single marine reserve zone covering just 3.3km2 adjacent to the Island of Lundy, one of only three Marine Nature Reserves in the country. This amounts to just 1/230,000th part of national waters, a staggeringly small fraction in comparison to the area we protect in terrestrial nature reserves.

Sometimes the struggle to establish marine reserves is seen as a battle between

conservationists

(fish

huggers) and exploiters (fish gutters). But exploiters and conservationists have many common goals that are often missed in the heated exchanges between them. Both want more productive seas with bigger populations of fish. Both would like a better future in which fish stocks remain productive and can be relied upon to sustain livelihoods. For many years, fishery managers have tried to deliver such security for the fishing industry by limiting how much fish can be landed and how

Mackerel

they can be caught. In Europe, as in many other parts of the world, lack of political will and inherent limitations of this approach weaken regulations to the point of impotence. The result has been a spiral of decline in catches, contraction of the industry and the collapse of fishing communities. Fishery management, as currently practised, suffers from serious flaws. On the whole, it tries to deal with species as if they were independent of one another, has scant regard for the habitats species depend on, and operates at or beyond the margins of safety. Adopting marine reserves as an integral part of management, I argue, can offer a lifeline to fisheries that no reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, or decommissioning exercise, can achieve on its own. Marine reserves can provide critical elements missing from fisheries management, increasing the health of our seas and the sustainability of fisheries.

tunicates and myriad other species. The complex biological web they weave is home and refuge for many commercially-important species like cod, halibut, ling and rockfish. Only permanent trawling bans or marine reserves will reduce the frequency of trawl impact sufficiently for these delicate communities to establish and persist. Reserves offer the advantage that they provide benefits to the wider community of animals, not just those at risk from trawls.

Increasing resilience of populations to environmental fluctuations Marine reserves also increase the resilience of exploited populations to environmental fluctuations. Longterm weather cycles, like the North Atlantic Oscillation or El Niño, drive populations up and down over decadal timescales. Animals living in the sea, including species we exploit, have adapted to such fluctuations by evolving long lifespans during which animals reproduce at regular

Protecting habitats

intervals. The presence of large, old

First and foremost, they protect habitats. Many fishing methods harm habitats as they remove fish. Bottom trawling and dredging are the worst

fish enables populations to persist through periods when conditions for offspring survival are poor. When

offenders. Trawls now thunder over the seabed on heavy steel or rubber rollers that allow them to roll over or mow down obstructions and penetrate areas of rugged ground that were once inaccessible. Places that are frequently trawled support few animals that live above the surface. They are far different from regions that have never been trawled, which bristle with corals, sea anemones, sea-fans,

bounce back as these fish reproduce successfully once more. But modern fishing practices erode resilience by removing large, old fish. The cod stock in the North Sea, for example,

Sea anenome

conditions improve, populations can

once had 10 or 20 reproductivelyactive year classes but has been reduced to one or two by intensive fishing. There are no large old fish left today, and hopes for recovery are vested in such a small number of

mature fish that the prospect is bleak. Marine reserves provide refuges for large, old fish and help maintain the reproductive capacity of stocks at levels high enough to withstand environmental crises without collapsing. Marine reserves are not the only reform needed to breathe new life into the oceans and the fishing industry. Other measures must be taken, such as abolishing the process of quota setting by political competitive bargaining, and reducing excess fishing capacity. But I believe they are an essential part of the management package if fisheries are to have a future. Without them, the best we can hope for is to slow the rate of decline. To reverse decades of mismanagement, however, we need more than a few Lundy reserves. Scientists estimate that marine reserve networks that protect 20-30% of the sea will maximise benefits to fisheries and provide adequate refuges for the full spectrum of marine life. Britain and Europe have a long way to go before their marine life and fishing industries are secure. For further information on the subject covered in this article, see C.M. Roberts, J.P. Hawkins and F.R. Gell. 2005. ‘The role of marine reserves in achieving sustainable fisheries’. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. B. 360: 123-132. Available from the author. Professor Callum M. Roberts is a marine conservation biologist at the University of York: Environment Department, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK. Email: [email protected]

Cuttlefish

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Managing Fisheries and other Marine Resources in New Zealand New Zealand’s National Manager of Fisheries Operations, Jonathan Peacey gives the NZ perspective on fisheries and marine management

N

ew Zealand, like many other countries, faces major challenges managing marine resources. Increasing competition from a wide range of uses is putting marine resources under pressure – especially in coastal areas. Using fisheries as an example, this article outlines progress in the move from a single species, single sector management focus to a multi-sector, ecosystem approach to managing marine resources.

allowing catching rights to be bought

Rebuilding

and sold and fishing effort to be

place for most stocks below target

adjusted to match available catches; and improves long-term certainty for fishing businesses.

levels. Details on the status of fish stocks are available at http:// services.fish.govt.nz/indicators/

The industry receives no direct government assistance and pays for all government services required to support commercial fisheries – including research and enforcement. The commercial fishery was worth around NZD 1.2 million in 2005, and 90 per cent of the catch is exported. Establishing long-term catching rights

Ensuring compliance

The ITQ system

in fisheries has encouraged rights holders to work together to add value to their rights. Examples include developing a code of practice to reduce

New Zealand has a well-developed system for managing individual fish stocks. It was one of the first countries to implement Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) in marine commercial fisheries and, almost 20 years on, has the most comprehensive fisheries ITQ system in the world. ITQs are now used in almost all significant commercial target fisheries and for many bycatch species, with 92 species or species complexes managed in almost 600 ITQ stocks. The ITQ system has been fine-tuned over the past 20 years and its key elements are now well established. It improves economic efficiency by

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marine mammal bycatch, and obtaining Marine Stewardship Council certification of the hoki fishery. Setting appropriate catch limits is a challenge in all fisheries, especially when information is limited. Overall, the status of New Zealand’s fish stocks is pretty good with many stocks at or near target levels. However, some stocks have been reduced below levels that allow the Maximum Sustainable Yield to be harvested. In a few cases – such as the Challenger Orange Roughy Stock – stock levels are very low.

strategies

are

in

Ensuring adequate compliance is a challenge in every managed fishery. Experience shows that whatever limits fishers’ catches – licences, effort limitations, ITQs, etc – will be tested. The Ministry of Fisheries uses a combination of education and enforcement to help ensure appropriate compliance levels. Automatic vessel monitoring systems are required on all large vessels and government observers may be placed on any vessel. Where necessary, penalties are very strong, including forfeiture of fishing vessels and ITQs, and imprisonment, for the most serious offences. Increased enforcement effort has recently been targeted at unregistered fishers who take high value species such as rock lobster and paua (abalone). At the other end of the scale, infringement notices have been implemented to simplify penalties for low-level commercial offences and minor recreational fishing offences. Multi-

New Zealand is working hard to manage the environmental effects of fishing – a major challenge in light of the rich biodiversity of New Zealand waters. A range of measures is used in addition to maintaining target fish stocks at or near target levels – an important step in managing food-chain impacts.

lingual education programmes are used to promote compliance by recreational fishers.

Economic Zone (EEZ) are closed to trawling to protect vulnerable benthic habitat. The Government is classifying all benthic habitats in the EEZ and will

shipping – is managed through many pieces of sometimes conflicting legislation. To improve integration, relevant government agencies are

Working to maintain biodiversity

soon determine the minimum area of

currently working on an Oceans

each habitat to be protected from

Policy. The Policy will address the key

New Zealand is working hard to manage the environmental effects of fishing – a major challenge in light of the rich biodiversity of New Zealand waters. A range of measures is used in addition to maintaining target fish stocks at or near target levels – an important step in managing foodchain impacts. To reduce seabird mortalities net-sonde cables are banned and fishers are required to use ‘bird-scarer’ lines in longline and trawl fisheries. To reduce marine mammal bycatch, set nets are banned in some areas and there is both a pre-set limit on sealion mortalities and voluntary use of sealion excluder devices by the industry in a major squid fishery. The Government and industry continue to

adverse effects of fishing.

In the

issues of determining environmental

meantime, the industry plans to

standards within which all marine

exclude bottom trawling from 30 per cent of the EEZ.

activities

work to minimise non-fish bycatch.

Work is under way to improve allocation policies. Allocation of access to coastal waters using a range of spatial management tools is also contentious. Recreational, customary Maori, and commercial fishers are concerned that, without adequate access to coastal space, they will be unable to take their share of the catch.

In March 2000, the Government released a 20-year plan to improve the state of New Zealand’s biodiversity. One major initiative is the development of a network of marine protected areas using a range of fisheries management tools and coastal management tools to provide the required level of protection. Already, eight per cent of New Zealand’s territorial sea is in marine reserves (no fishing is permitted) and 19 seamounts in the Exclusive

should

operate,

and

allocating access to marine resources between the different activities. The

Allocation of access to marine resources in an increasing challenge – within the fisheries sector and between fisheries and other sectors. The law requires the Minister of Fisheries to make an allowance for recreational and customary Maori fishers when setting commercial catch limits. In popular recreational fisheries, allowances are hotly debated .The Government is currently facing legal challenges from both recreational and commercial fishers concerning one allocation decision.

Developing an Oceans Policy In New Zealand, the wide range of marine resource uses – including fishing, aquaculture, mining, and

draft Policy has the overall aim of, “Healthy oceans, wisely managed for the greatest benefit to New Zealand, now and in the future”, and includes the requirement to ensure the integrity of oceans ecosystems. New Zealand has made good progress providing for sustainable utilisation of individual marine resources and is working hard to address broader environmental effects of human activities. It is now focusing on the major challenge of integrating management of different human activities in the marine environment to meet environmental standards and achieve

best

value

from

marine

resources.

Jonathan Peacey, National Manager, Fisheries Operations. New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries /Te Tautiaka i nga tini a Tangaroa PO Box 1020, Wellington, New Zealand website: www.fish.govt.nz

The edge Spring 2006

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Windmills on the plains “It is easy to see,” says Don Quixote on sighting the 30 or 40 windmills on the plains of La Mancha, “…those are giants; and if thou art afraid, away with thee out of this and betake thyself to prayer while I engage them in fierce and unequal combat.” “What giants?” said Sancho Panza.

S

ince 1992 over 40 estuary and firth partnerships have been voluntarily established in the UK following the English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Estuaries and Firths Initiatives. None receive direct government support, instead relying on partner financial support. Despite this, most continue to show their worth in countless ways; improving decisionmaking, resolving conflicts, implementing practical projects, raising awareness. Such is the noble legacy of these partnerships. But for those involved in their management, there is a less heroic story: last minute budget deals; cajoling council resource committees, the loss of talented corestaff and an endless struggle to maintain funding. Critically, this funding dependency culture has compromised the freedom of partnerships to challenge the policies and practices of their funding masters. Short-termism is the order of the day in the very policy sector that should be underpinned and driven by the longterm issues of sustainability. Hundreds of staff years have been wasted in the pursuit of funding and a few partnerships have been lost along the way. Now a new threat looms in the unlikely shape of the Government’s

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The edge Spring 2006

Marine Bill. The objective of the Marine Bill is clear; to provide a strengthened and simplified system for the governance of our coastal and marine waters, including the possibility of a new marine management organisation. The threat lies in a Government agenda that reinforces the split between the management of land and sea. This will result in the policy ‘squeeze’ of coastal management between a reinforced marine administration and terrestrial governance frozen at the mean low water mark, DEFRA vs the ODPM. But this Marine Bill should also be an opportunity for coastal partnerships to build themselves a secure, sustainable future. The case is simple – coastal partnerships deliver sustainable development; their key weaknesses rest with the fickleness and fragility of their partners. The solution is equally simple – the inclusion in the Bill of a duty on all relevant and competent bodies with a statutory interest in the coast and inshore waters to participate in and implement ICZM in agreed coastal waters of national and regional importance. The responsibility and power for cothe statutory coordinating this activity would rest with a nominated local authority within the area.

Fanciful? Radical? Hardly. The proposal is based on experience of a similar policy area – the statutorily designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). Like the coast, UK AONB management has been subject to stop-go initiatives for over three decades. Two government actions have revolutionised their management. Firstly, a few simple clauses in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000 imposed a responsibility on local authorities to prepare, publish and review management plans for AONBs in their areas. This was backed up by relatively modest financial incentives from Government to local authorities for a guaranteed period of up to 10 years to implement the process and establish joint steering committees. Now all AONBs are under active management with national coverage of management plans close to completion. This approach has the potential to transform UK coastal management in a similar way to that achieved at a broader spatial scale by the much-praised and envied US Coastal Zone Management Act, and its federal consistency provisions. The 2002 EU Recommendation on ICZM specifically asks Member States to identify in their National Strategies “sources of long term financing for

for coastal management, particularly if linked to the proposed statutory duties above. Less complex is for direct funding for core costs to be met on a contractual basis for a period of up to 10 years linked to the preparation of management plans and their implementation. Based on the AONB Model, the annual cost to Government would be some £2-3 million; a comparable sum to the plethora of current grant arrangements. Monies would be channeled through a national agency and have an attractive 75% grant rate to encourage a multiplier effect. Although still a grant, the 10-year period would provide the political stability to allow the process to become properly embedded and free core staff from the demoralising annual search for new funds, or new jobs. Finally, the very existence of a statutory duty would in itself be a powerful lever on those less-

©Barry Needle

integrated coastal zone management initiatives… and examine how to make the best use of existing financing mechanisms both at Community and at national level.” This has probably been most awkward clause for the Government keen to pass the funding buck to the Lottery or other short-term funders. But with the political will, the complex Standard Spending Assessment (SSA), the means by which central government distributes funding to local authorities, could be used for funding. The formulae on which this grant distribution is based could be adjusted to factor in the additional responsibilities

Severn Estuary

View from the ground The Severn Estuary Partnership The Severn Estuary Partnership (SEP) is the only organisation taking an estuary-wide approach to implement the recommendations of the Strategy for the Severn Estuary (2001). The 14 local authorities involved in supporting the SEP have to justify funding on an ad-hoc annual basis. It is difficult for them to support the SEP with its voluntary status alongside other statutory responsibilities. Statutory agencies are still required to justify funding on a project basis – even though it is recognised that ICZM is a process. The lack of authority and resources has limited the overall effectiveness of ICZM efforts to date. Estuary Partnerships have prepared the groundwork for highly effective ICZM delivery in the UK, but are unlikely to survive in the absence of stronger statutory support. A new ICZM Framework Law utilising existing powers, or a new mechanism toput a duty on local authorities and statutory bodies to support ICZM processes, is needed.

enthusiastic partners. Natasha Barker, Severn Estuary Partnership Officer Coastal partnerships can no longer rely on the old chivalrous voluntary virtues to carry them through; they will need real teeth and real funding to be truly fit for purpose in the 21st Century. The chivalrous Don Quixote ends up as a pitiable and lovable old man while the pragmatic Sancho Panza becomes the wise ruler; as he says, “in battle …it is the tripes that carry the heart and not the heart the tripes”. Brian Shipman is a member of the CoastNET Board of Trustees with 25 years experience of coastal management in the UK and Europe.

The Humber Management Scheme Partnership The Humber Management Scheme (HMS) receives statutory support via the Habitats Regulations. The HMS partnership was formed to work on a voluntary management strategy for the Estuary. What benefits does statutory support bring to the current partnership? Meetings continue in a constructive manner, due to delegates’ enthusiasm and their belief in the benefits of collective management. The partnership comprises a wide range of organisations, all of whose support is critical to the effective development and implementation of the Humber Management Scheme. Statutory support makes it easier for partners to solicit support within their organisations and secure the necessary funds. In delivering secure funding and permanence, the statutory support underpins the partnerships work and shifts focus from project management to long term planning. Chris J Manning, Humber Project Manager The edge Spring 2006

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C o a s t N ET eve n t s Conference Involving actors and combining instruments – making the best use of policy tools for ICZM Location: Vannes, France Date: 15 June 2006 One of the fundamental principles of ICZM is to bring together local institutions, agencies and users to agree common management objectives and appropriate management measures. However, to ensure consistency in management between different regions it is important to have common strategic frameworks at higher levels. In this conference we bring together local issues, by examining local case studies with respect to the national response to the EU ICZM Recommendation. Speakers will consider the adequacy of management tools available at the local level in the context of the French national ICZM strategy and the challenges on implementing a new national policy. Further details will be available shortly.

Other upcoming CoastNET conferences: NW Europe ‘Centre of Excellence’ in ICZM – challenges and opportunities

Partnership Forum Date: Summer 2006 CoastNET is still planinng to hold the annual partnership forum in early summer. The date will be decided once the Defra ICZM stategy consultation period is known. The aim of the forum will be:

Location: Cork Date: September 2006

1

Water framework directive and spatial planning on the coast

2

Location: Cardiff Date: December 2006

SEA Directive and coastal spatial strategies Location: Newcastle Date: Jan 2007

■ For information on any of the conferences listed please contact CoastNET on 01206 728644 or by email [email protected]

to explore fully the potential role of Partnerships in delivering the ICZM Strategy and the the implications of the marine bill to consider how Partnerships might work together in the future either nationally or regionally.

CoastNET recently sent all partnerships a questionnaire regarding the content of the forum and working together more effectively. We continue to welcome your feedback from completed questionnaires so that we might make the best use of time in the forum. For queries and a copy of the questionnaire please contact [email protected]

New workshop and conference reports now on the CoastNET website: Shifting sands and all at sea? The report from the Shifting Sands workshop held by CoastNET in partnership with English Nature in November 2005 is now complete and can be viewed on our website under ‘publications’. Adaptive Management and Local Specificity in ICZM The report from this conference held by CoastNET in Edinburgh in September 2005 is also now available to view on our website.

CoastNET emails have changed: Theresa Redding; [email protected] Pat Stitt; [email protected] Lesley Smeardon; [email protected] Erin Pettifer; [email protected] Events; [email protected]

This publication is partially funded through the Corepoint project under the Interrreg 3B Programme. Corepoint aims to establish North West Europe as an internationally recognised region of excellence in coastal management by encouraging full implementation of ICZM, highlighting best practice, providing education by influencing national spatial policies – for further details please see http://corepoint.ucc.ie