Our Coast, Our Sea - New Marine Conservation Zone for North East Coast

24 November 2009

Natural England has created regional maps, including one for Northern England showing the diversity of animals and plants that live in our seas, here.

Natural England’s press release about the marine conservation aspect of the Marine and Coastal Access Act follows:

Natural England North East welcomes the news that the Marine and Coastal Access Act has received Royal Assent, describing the new legislation as a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to enhance and protect the unique marine environment of North East England.

The new Act will create a new marine planning system designed to bring together the conservation, social and economic needs of the seas around England. Four independent regional stakeholder groups will have a central role in determining the boundaries of the new Marine Conservation Zones and they will work with local groups and businesses to identify which areas will be designated. No other country in the world has attempted to involve people at this sort of scale in developing plans for marine protected areas.

The ‘Net Gain’ project will cover the English North Sea and is hosted by the Yorkshire and Humber Seafood Group based at The Deep Business Centre in Hull – www.netgainmcz.org.

“Having dived off the North East coast for the past 20 years I know at first hand that there is an incredible variety of underwater landscapes and marine life off the coast of North East England,” says Rob Aubrook, Natural England’s regional director for the North East. “Beneath the North Sea are dramatic landscapes of valleys, hills, plains and cliffs. The waters of the North East coast are an amazing biodiversity hotspot where Northern and Southern species meet. It’s a very special place and below the waves off our coast are incredible kelp forests, fearsome-looking Arctic wolf fish and colourful anemones typical of warmer waters.

“Here in the North East we have some of the best Marine Conservation Society accredited beaches in the UK and amazing diving and surfing opportunities. Our marine environment is important to our cultural heritage and vital for the region’s future prospects for tourism, recreation, food security and energy.”

For 100 miles from Newcastle to the Scottish border, the shore of Northumberland is followed by a huge rocky reef stretching up to 20 miles offshore. This supports a rich diversity of sealife including large numbers of pink-white deeplet anemones and as well as crabs, sea urchins, lobsters and fish such as the red and blue cuckoo wrasse, lumpsucker fish, pollock, ballan wrasse, and wolf fish.

Recent exploration off the Durham Coast by a Seasearch diving team revealed the exciting underwater world of some fantastically colourful marine animals. This is just the start of the expedition to discover and understand the wonderful marine environment on our doorstep.

Around 3,600 grey seals – three quarters of the English population – live off the North East coast, mostly on the Farne Islands. There are small populations of Harbour seals on Lindisfarne and on Seal Sands at the mouth of the River Tees – where they can be seen at Natural England’s Teesmouth National Nature Reserve.

The seas off North East England are also exceptionally rich in buried ancient landscapes including those of human origin. The remains of up to 50,000 mammoths have been trawled from the seabed off the North Sea coast, along with abundant evidence of the presence of Neolithic man, such as bone harpoons and axe heads. Flint arrow heads have been found offshore from Newcastle.

Rob added: “The Marine and Coastal Access Act will be an enormously positive step forwards – it represents a once in a generation opportunity to deliver a sustainable future for our marine environment and the people that depend upon it.”

Dr Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, who recently visited the region to help launch the Northumberland Coast AONB & Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast European Marine Site Management Plan added her welcome for the new Act. She said: “Marine Conservation Zones are urgently needed in order to protect England’s most important marine wildlife and landscapes. They need to be sufficiently large, diverse and interconnected to address ecological needs, but they also have to function effectively alongside other uses of the marine environment. This has to be a collaborative process and we want everyone who uses the sea to be involved from the outset in developing recommendations on where the new conservation zones should be located.”