
In a possible victory for UK oceans, four key areas of the seabed off England may soon be off-limits to bottom-trawlers.
Using post-Brexit powers to protect marine life, the Marine Management Organization will consult on proposed bylaws to prohibit vessels from engaging in bottom trawling in four of England's Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), The Guardian reported. The consultation runs through March 28, 2021, BBC reported.
This highly destructive form of fishing involves dragging weighted nets along the seabed in search of scallops, sand eels, sole, cod, crab and other bottom-dwelling animals, reported BBC. Trawling is particularly damaging to bottom ecosystems because it bulldozes sensitive corals, invertebrates and animals, catching them or running them over in search of target fish species.
According to NOAA, bottom trawling accounts for roughly one-quarter of global marine fisheries landings. The fishing method has the potential to temporarily or permanently alter seafloor habitats, and these consequences can cascade through the entire ecosystem, the report found. NOAA noted that the disturbances can be physical and chemical and reduce the abundance, diversity and productivity of life on the ocean bottom.
"These changes in turn can affect the commercially important fish, and fishing communities, that are supported by the ecosystem," NOAA found.
The four areas under consultation include Dogger Bank Special Area of Conservation, Canyons Marine Conservation Zone, South Dorset Marine Conservation Zone and Inner Dowsing, Race Bank and North Ridge Special Area of Conservation. The protected areas will cover 14,000 sq km, reported Dive Magazine. While currently protected as MPAs, a lack of enforcement and policing has led to overfishing in all four, reported Oceanographic.
Under the proposed bylaws, the UK government will completely ban trawling at two sites and partially stop it at the other two, reported BBC. Dredging, another destructive fishing technique, will also be prohibited at the first two sites.
Dr Jean-Luc Solandt, a specialist in MPAs at the Marine Conservation Society, said, "It is a really big day for Britain's seas, where bottom trawling has degraded the environment for 100 years. It's the start of us having a pride in our seas again and it makes my job worthwhile," The Guardian reported.
The move is the latest UK effort to establish a "blue belt" of MPAs around its seas. So far, the UK's policies protect 38 percent of its waters, Environment Secretary George Eustice told Dive Magazine.
"Now that we have left the [EU's] common fisheries policy, we are able to deliver on our commitment to achieve a healthy, thriving and sustainable marine environment," Eustice added.
The fishing lobby has been critical of the move, calling the proposals a sledgehammer to an industry already suffering from post-Brexit export delays of fish and shellfish, The Guardian reported.
Supporters say the action is long overdue and hope it will help these once-vibrant areas recover. Still, they emphasize that more action is needed, and soon.
A 2021 report by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) called Marine unProtected Areas found that bottom trawling takes place in 98 percent of the UK's offshore MPAs. MCS likened trawling in a protected area to "bulldozing a national park." As a result, the organization has called for a ban on bottom trawling in all protected areas.
"Action in these four sites is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the scale needed to solve the crisis facing our oceans," Chris Thorne, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, told The Guardian. "This process shows that the government is prepared to use its new Brexit powers to properly protect our seas."
However, "If the government chooses to follow this consultation approach for a handful of marine protected areas at a time, it will be many years before the entire network is properly protected. Our oceans can't wait that long," Thorne cautioned.
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Wisdom the mōlī, or Laysan albatross, is the oldest wild bird known to science at the age of at least 70. She is also, as of February 1, a new mother.
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Comparing rime ice and glaze ice shows how each changes the texture of the blade. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
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While traditional investment in the ocean technology sector has been tentative, growth in Israeli maritime innovations has been exponential in the last few years, and environmental concern has come to the forefront.
theDOCK aims to innovate the Israeli maritime sector. Pexels
<p>The UN hopes that new investments in ocean science and technology will help turn the tide for the oceans. As such, this year kicked off the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)</a> to galvanize massive support for the blue economy.</p><p>According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem," <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338255#b0245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science Direct</a> reported. It represents this new sector for investments and innovations that work in tandem with the oceans rather than in exploitation of them.</p><p>As recently as Aug. 2020, <a href="https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/esg-investors-slow-make-waves-25tn-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> noted that ESG Investors, those looking to invest in opportunities that have a positive impact in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, have been interested in "blue finance" but slow to invest.</p><p>"It is a hugely under-invested economic opportunity that is crucial to the way we have to address living on one planet," Simon Dent, director of blue investments at Mirova Natural Capital, told Reuters.</p><p>Even with slow investment, the blue economy is still expected to expand at twice the rate of the mainstream economy by 2030, Reuters reported. It already contributes $2.5tn a year in economic output, the report noted.</p><p>Current, upward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/-innovation-blue-economy-2646147405.html" target="_self">shifts in blue economy investments are being driven by innovation</a>, a trend the UN hopes will continue globally for the benefit of all oceans and people.</p><p>In Israel, this push has successfully translated into investment in and innovation of global ports, shipping, logistics and offshore sectors. The "Startup Nation," as Israel is often called, has seen its maritime tech ecosystem grow "significantly" in recent years and expects that growth to "accelerate dramatically," <a href="https://itrade.gov.il/belgium-english/how-israel-is-becoming-a-port-of-call-for-maritime-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iTrade</a> reported.</p><p>Driving this wave of momentum has been rising Israeli venture capital hub <a href="https://www.thedockinnovation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theDOCK</a>. Founded by Israeli Navy veterans in 2017, theDOCK works with early-stage companies in the maritime space to bring their solutions to market. The hub's pioneering efforts ignited Israel's maritime technology sector, and now, with their new fund, theDOCK is motivating these high-tech solutions to also address ESG criteria.</p><p>"While ESG has always been on theDOCK's agenda, this theme has become even more of a priority," Nir Gartzman, theDOCK's managing partner, told EcoWatch. "80 percent of the startups in our portfolio (for theDOCK's Navigator II fund) will have a primary or secondary contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria."</p><p>In a company presentation, theDOCK called contribution to the ESG agenda a "hot discussion topic" for traditional players in the space and their boards, many of whom are looking to adopt new technologies with a positive impact on the planet. The focus is on reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment, the presentation outlines. As such, theDOCK also explicitly screens candidate investments by ESG criteria as well.</p><p>Within the maritime space, environmental innovations could include measures like increased fuel and energy efficiency, better monitoring of potential pollution sources, improved waste and air emissions management and processing of marine debris/trash into reusable materials, theDOCK's presentation noted.</p>theDOCK team includes (left to right) Michal Hendel-Sufa, Head of Alliances, Noa Schuman, CMO, Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Dudu Koren
<p>theDOCK's own portfolio includes companies like Orca AI, which uses an intelligent collision avoidance system to reduce the probability of oil or fuel spills, AiDock, which eliminates the use of paper by automating the customs clearance process, and DockTech, which uses depth "crowdsourcing" data to map riverbeds in real-time and optimize cargo loading, thereby reducing trips and fuel usage while also avoiding groundings.</p><p>"Oceans are a big opportunity primarily because they are just that – big!" theDOCK's Chief Marketing Officer Noa Schuman summarized. "As such, the magnitude of their criticality to the global ecosystem, the magnitude of pollution risk and the steps needed to overcome those challenges – are all huge."</p><p>There is hope that this wave of interest and investment in environmentally-positive maritime technologies will accelerate the blue economy and ESG investing even further, in Israel and beyond.</p>- 14 Countries Commit to Ocean Sustainability Initiative - EcoWatch ›
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