A Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) is a type of
marine nature reserve Marine nature reserve (MNR) is a conservation designation officially awarded by a government to a marine reserve of national significance. Republic of Ireland
Lough Hyne, a marine lake off of County Cork, is Ireland's only marine nature reserve. Un ...
in
UK waters. They were established under the
Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) and are areas designated with the aim to protect nationally important, rare or threatened habitats and species.
Approximately 20% of UK waters now have some protection although some conservation, fisherman and wildlife groups are concerned that there are no management plans for each zone.
Following Brexit, legislation was introduced into Parliament in January 2020 which would give new powers to the
Marine Management Organisation
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an executive non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom established under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, with responsibility for English waters. The MMO exists to make a significant con ...
in English waters.
No Take Zones
MCZs generally do not provide "no-take" protection banning fishing. However,
Lundy Island
Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon.
About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...
MCZ includes a preexisting "no-take zone", which was established in 2003.
Two more no-take zones were established in UK waters by 2010 (bringing the total area protected to five square kilometres):
, and an additional one in 2016
*
Lamlash Bay (2008), subsequently included within the South Arran Marine Protection Area.
*
Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head () is a promontory, long on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, with sheer white cliffs. The cliff top has two standing lighthouse towers, the olde ...
(2010). This no-take zone is part of a marine
SAC rather than a MCZ.
*
Medway Nursery Area (2016). This 12.1 square kilometre no-take zone is part of the Medway Estuary MCZ.
There has been criticism of the MCZs for not providing "no-take" protection for a higher proportion of UK waters; for example, the environmentalist
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books.
Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...
has raised the issue in his column in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''.
England
On 21 November 2013 the first twenty-seven Marine Conservation Zones were designated, followed by a further twenty-three on 17 January 2016. There are now fifty MCZs in English seas protecting an area of .
[
]
2013 Marine Conservation Zones
# Aln Estuary
# Beachy Head West
Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone are two spatially separate areas in the English Channel, off the East Sussex coast. They stretch from Brighton Marina in the city of Brighton and Hove to Beachy Head near Eastbourne, with a gap at the ...
# Blackwater, Crouch, Roach and Colne Estuaries
Blackwater, Crouch, Roach and Colne Estuaries is a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), located in Essex, England. It includes the Blackwater, Colne, Crouch and Roach estuaries as well as the coast between them. It extends from the mean high water m ...
# The Canyons
# Chesil Beach and Stennis Ledges
# Cumbria Coast
# East of Haig Fras
# Folkestone Pomerania
# Fylde
# Isles of Scilly
# Kingmere
Kingmere Marine Conservation Zone is in the English Channel, between and off the West Sussex coast to the south of Littlehampton and Worthing. It covers an area of around .
The MCZ contains two marine Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (S ...
# Lundy
Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon.
About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...
# The Manacles
The Manacles ( kw, Meyn Eglos, meaning ''church stones'') () are a set of treacherous rocks off The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. The rocks are rich in marine wildlife and they are a popular spot for diving due to the many shipwrecks. Traditio ...
# Medway Estuary
# North East of Farnes Deep
# Padstow Bay and Surrounds
# Pagham Harbour
Pagham Harbour is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the western outskirts of Bognor Regis in West Sussex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, a Nature Conservation Review site, a Ramsar site, a Special ...
# Poole Rocks
# Skerries Bank and Surrounds
# South Dorset
# South-West Deeps (West)
# Swallow Sand
# Tamar Estuary
# Thanet Coast
# Torbay
# Upper Fowey and Pont Pill
# Whitsand and Looe Bay
2016 Marine Conservation Zones
# Allonby Bay
Allonby Bay is a crescent-shaped bay of the Solway Firth on the north-western shore of Cumbria, England. The bay is across. Its northern point is at Dubmill, between the village of Mawbray and the hamlet of Salta, Cumbria, Salta, and its souther ...
# Bideford to Foreland Bay
# Coquet to St Mary's
# Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds
# Dover to Deal
# Dover to Folkestone
# Farnes East
# Fulmar
# Greater Haig Fras
Haig Fras is a 45 km long submarine granitic rocky outcrop in the southern part of the Celtic Sea, lying about 95 km northwest of the Isles of Scilly. It covers an area of . At one point it reaches within 38 m of the sea surface. It is ...
# Hartland Point to Tintagel
# Holderness Inshore
# North-west of Jones Bank
# Land's End
Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
# Mount's Bay
Mount's Bay ( kw, Baya an Garrek) is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head. In the north of the bay, near Marazion, is St Michael's Mount; the origin o ...
# The Needles
The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmo ...
# Newquay
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
and The Gannel
# Offshore Brighton
# Offshore Overfalls (south-east of the Isle of Wight)
# Runswick Bay
Runswick Bay is a bay in the Scarborough Borough of North Yorkshire, England. It is also the name of a village located on the western edge of the bay (although the village is sometimes shortened to Runswick on UK road signs). It is north of ...
# Swale Estuary
# Utopia (south-west of Selsey Bill
Selsey Bill is a headland into the English Channel on the south coast of England in the county of West Sussex.
The southernmost town in Sussex is Selsey which is at the end of the Manhood Peninsula and ''Selsey Bill'' is situated on the town's so ...
)
# Western Channel
# West of Walney co-location zone[
]
Northern Ireland
Following the passing of the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 only Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough (from Old Norse ''Strangr Fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet"[PlaceNames N ...](_blank)
was designated as a Marine Conservation Zone. In 2015 consultations for a further four proposed MCZs were announced.
The consultations ended in March 2016 and the four MCZs were designated in December 2016.
Proposed Marine Conservation Zones
# Carlingford
# Outer Belfast Lough
# Rathlin
# Waterfoot
Scotland
In the summer of 2014 the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment announced thirty new Marine Protected Areas
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...
. Along with thirty Special Areas of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...
(SAC), forty-seven Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...
s (SPA) and sixty-one Sites of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
(SSSI), 20% of Scottish waters have differing levels of protection.
Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas
There are seventeen protected areas within Scotland's territorial waters (i.e. within )
# Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
Sea Sill
# East Caithness Cliffs
The name East Caithness Cliffs refers to weathered sandstone cliffs on the east coast of Caithness in Scotland. The cliffs, which rise to 150 m at Berriedale, provide ideal nesting conditions for breeding seabirds, and are protected by seve ...
# Fetlar
Fetlar ( sco, Fetlar) is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland, with a usually resident population of 61 at the time of the 2011 census. Its main settlement is Houbie on the south coast, home to the Fetlar Interpretive Centre. Fetlar is ...
to Haroldswick
Haroldswick or Harold's Wick (Old Norse: ''Haraldsvík'', meaning "Harald's bay"), is on Unst, Shetland Islands, Scotland, and is one of the most northerly settlements in the British Isles.
History
The wick takes its name from the Viking King ...
# Loch Creran
Loch Creran is a sea loch in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland. It is about long from its head at Invercreran to its mouth on the Lynn of Lorne, part of Loch Linnhe. The loch separates the areas of Benderloch to the south and Appin to the ...
# Loch Sunart
Loch Sunart (Scottish Gaelic ) is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. Loch Sunart is bounded to the north by the Sunart district of Ardnamurchan and to the south by the Morvern district. At long, it is the longest sea loch in the Highland ...
# Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura
# Loch Sween
''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch.
In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spellin ...
# Lochs Duich, Long
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...
and Alsh
# Monarch Isles
# Mousa
Mousa ( non, Mosey "moss island") is a small island in Shetland, Scotland, uninhabited since the nineteenth century. The island is known for the Broch of Mousa, an Iron Age round tower, and is designated as a Special Protection Area for storm-p ...
to Boddam
# Noss Head
Noss Head is a headland on the north-west coast of Scotland that overlooks Sinclairs Bay. It lies approximately north-east of Wick in Caithness, in the Highland council area of Scotland.
Noss Head was first mentioned in the historical record a ...
# Papa Westray
Papa Westray () ( sco, Papa Westree), also known as Papay, is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, United Kingdom. The fertile soilKeay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland''. London. HarperCollins. has long been a draw ...
# Small Isles
The Small Isles ('' gd, Na h-Eileanan Tarsainn'') are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. They lie south of Skye and north of Mull and Ardnamurchan – the most westerly point of mainla ...
# South Arran
# Upper Loch Fyne
Loch Fyne ( gd, Loch Fìne, ; meaning "Loch of the Vine/Wine"), is a sea loch off the Firth of Clyde and forms part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula. Located on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends inland from the Sound o ...
and Loch Goil
Loch Goil; ( gd, Loch Goil) is a small sea loch forming part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch is entirely within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
It is an arm of Loch Long. The v ...
# Wester Ross
Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to the ...
# Wyre and Rousay Sound
Rousay (, sco, Rousee; non, Hrólfsey meaning Rolf's Island) is a small, hilly island about north of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. It has been nicknamed "Egypt of the north", due to its archaeological diversit ...
s
A further thirteen protected areas are outside Scottish territorial waters
# Central Fladen (CFL)
# East of Gannet
Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies.
Gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the Nor ...
and Montrose Fields (EGM)
# Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt (FSS)
# Firth of Forth Banks Complex (FOF)
# Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope (GSH)
# Hatton-Rockall Basin (HRB)
# North-east Faroe-Shetland Channel (NEF)
# North-west Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
(NWO)
# Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain (NSP)
# Rosemary Bank
Rosemary Bank is a seamount approximately west of Scotland, located in the Rockall Trough, in the northeast Atlantic. It was discovered in 1930 by the survey vessel HMS ''Rosemary'', from which it takes its name. It is one of only three seamoun ...
Seamount (RBS)
# Barra Fan and Hebrides Terrace Seamount (BHT)
# Turbot Bank (TBB)
# West Shetland Shelf (WSS)
Wales
Skomer Marine Conservation Zone
Skomer Marine Conservation Zone is an underwater marine nature reserve located off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales. The nature reserve completely surrounds the islands of Skomer and Middleholm, and encompasses the mainland coastline aroun ...
(around the island of Skomer
Skomer () or Skomer Island is an island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, in the community of Marloes and St Brides in west Wales. It is well known for its wildlife: around half the world's population of Manx shearwaters nest on the island, the At ...
) is the only site in Wales designated as a Marine Conservation Zone. There are 128 marine protected areas in Welsh seas and Natural Resources Wales
Natural Resources Wales ( cy, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Count ...
(''Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru'') is consulting with the Welsh Government and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the public body that advises the UK Government and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international nature conservation.
Originally established under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, JN ...
(JNCC) to consider if anymore areas need protecting.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
Lundy Marine Conservation Zone Official Site
Fishing in the United Kingdom
Marine reserves of the United Kingdom
Lists of protected areas of the United Kingdom