Researchers from the University of Plymouth have contributed to a new book addressing some of the most pressing challenges in marine conservation.
Senior Research Fellow Dr Emma Sheehan and Research Assistant Tom Mullier are among those to share their expertise in Marine Protected Areas: Science, Policy and Management, published by Elsevier.
Working alongside Dr Jean-Luc Solandt from the Marine Conservation Society, and Dr Sophie Elliott, from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, they contributed a chapter recommending an approach to Marine Protected Areas (MPA) management which isn’t only limited to protecting vulnerable areas of seabed within the UK’s vast network of MPAs.
Their paper outlines the legal tools the UK already has to protect the seabed from damaging activity, and calls for MPAs of all seabed types and sizes to restrict trawling and scallop dredging.
It is hoped the paper will make the case to government that a ‘whole sites’ approach to managing MPAs must be implemented, restricting bottom towed fishing gear from much larger expanses of seabed to allow wider marine ecosystems to recover and repopulate.