Safeguard our sea life

26 NGOs join forces to demand proper planning for our seas

2013-05-21T13:00:00Z

Today is the start of the two day European Maritime Day Conference, which is being held in Malta this year. This annual event is organised by the European Commission (Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) to encourage better stewardship of Europe’s coastal zones, seas and oceans, and highlight the crucial contribution that our marine environment plays in delivering sustainable growth.

To coincide with this, we have joined forces with 25 other NGOs across Europe to demand that the first bit (better stewardship for our marine environment) is not sacrificed for the second (‘Blue Growth’). Specifically, what we are calling for is that the proposed (and snappily named) Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management (with the equally snappy acronym, MSP-ICM) gets rooted in a firmer environmental legal basis.

Quite simply, unless MSP-ICM is used in a way that bases decisions on the health of the environment - and on the precautionary principle - the EU’s ’Blue Growth’ agenda will never be sustainable. It’s not just the sensible decision to take in terms of building a long term future for the maritime economy, it’s also a legal requirement. The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires Member States, including the UK Government, to achieve Good Environmental Status for our marine environment – and as such should be the prime legal purpose when planning how to manage it.

You can read our full statement here: (Please visit the site to view this file)

Worse things are happening at sea

2013-05-17T08:23:31Z

It's been an important week for our marine environment, with the Common Fisheries Policy under discussion, and the first small steps towards a review of the seabird killer PIB. Check out Martin's blog for the latest update.

Industry joins the call to ban the seabird killer PIB

2013-05-14T08:41:00Z

By Alec Taylor, Marine Policy Officer

I’ve just popped out of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s meeting of its environmental subcommittee. I say committee, but it’s more like a UN General Assembly, with hundreds of delegates from all over the globe and interpretation into at least five languages!

It would be a future meeting of this group that would discuss and ultimately decide whether polyisobutene (PIB), the substance responsible for over 4,000 slow, lingering seabird deaths so far this year, should be reclassified under international shipping regulations to prevent its discharge at sea altogether.

In connection with this week’s meeting, the RSPB, along with other wildlife NGOs, have joined forces with the UK Chamber of Shipping (supported by the wider industry association MaritimeUK) to make a ground-breaking collective call on the UK Government to press ahead with an urgent review of PIB’s discharge status. Currently, it is legal to discharge PIB based on certain conditions, but all sides feel that this should be urgently reviewed, regardless of the outcome of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s investigations into this year’s tragic seabird deaths.

PIB has no place in our precious oceans and seas, and now it’s not just us saying that but the shipping and ports industries themselves, who represent over £30 billion to the UK economy, support over half a million jobs and provide £8.5bn in tax receipts to the UK Treasury. We’ll be united when we say to the UK government that we think the full risks of PIB are not properly known, and that we need the UK to step up to lead a review, and then present it to a future meeting of the IMO.

Visit this blog for updates of how we get on – you can sign up to get new posts straight in to your inbox on the right - and thanks to everyone for your support so far. It may be a small change to ensure all PIB is removed from tanks while in port, but in the global world of shipping, it could make a real difference to seabirds and would be one less pressure on our marine environment in general.

You can read the joint statement here – and remember you can show your support to ban this seabird killer by signing the online petitions at 38 degrees and Avaaz”

Thanks,

Alec

Crunch time for CFP reform

2013-05-10T11:30:00Z

By Euan Dunn, Principal Marine Advisor

On Monday and Tuesday next week, the Council of Fisheries Ministers are meeting in Brussels, under the Irish Presidency and Irish Fisheries Minister Simon Coveney.

They will have a huge say in deciding the fate of European fisheries for the next ten years and beyond. They will be making crucial decisions about the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, a once-in-decade opportunity to put right a highly discredited, broken system of managing what is a public good – our fish stocks and the marine environment that harbours them.

Last reviewed in 2002, this time the CFP reform has been something of a breach birth. It was meant to come into force on the 1^st of January 2012 but negotiations have been tortuous, not least because this time around it’s not just the Council, but also the European Parliament that have to reach collective agreement on the measures to be taken. This has resulted in a two year delay, with a target date for implementation now being January 2014.

And the Parliament has set the bar high for the Council of Ministers by voting overwhelmingly in February for a radical reform that could end decades of overfishing and put us on track to recover fish stocks by 2020. The RSPB and the other NGOs have given a huge tip of the hat to the Parliament for their bold and unprecedented level of ambition.

The European Parliament’s vote next week therefore throws down the gauntlet to the weaker Council position. However, a number of Member States, including France, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Greece and Romania, are resisting efforts to find common ground with the Parliament on key issues such as fleet management and discards. In fact the only major issue on which the Council is currently showing its willingness to compromise with the Parliament is on recovering stock levels to the so-called ‘maximum sustainable yield’.

It’s vital that the Irish Presidency does not give in to the Council detractors from far-reaching reform. Rather the Presidency must support those countries which are championing a really positive sea change in the CFP. To do otherwise is to condemn fish stocks to the status of a guttering candle and those communities dependent on them to becoming a sunset industry. To do otherwise is also a recipe for fishing continuing to inflict unacceptable collateral damage on the wider marine environment, not least the needless toll of seabirds killed in fishing gears.

Commendably, the UK’s Richard Benyon is in the vanguard for positive reform – and he deserves our support to stick to his position.

In the last ditch Council saloon, the RSPB is therefore urging Richard Benyon and his fellow Ministers to strike a compromise that includes a timeline for stock recovery, and targeted measures to eliminate overfishing and promote low-impact fishing. We urge them to set measures that will minimize discards and other bycatch, stops fleets growing ever more powerful, and put a halt once and for all to the damaging subsidies to which the fishing industry has become addicted.

Please get behind our Minister and show your support for the lead he has been taking among the more enlightened fishing nations. You can show your support for Richard Benyon by tweeting for a strong CFP deal @RICHARDBENYONMP #CFPREFORM

Trawler: Bern Altman, www.sxc.hu

Greetings from the STAR team on Colonsay

2013-05-07T08:23:00Z

Emily Scragg, Senior Research Assistant with the Seabird Tracking And Research team on Colonsay, tells us about her preparations for the upcoming season.

Greetings from the STAR (Seabird Tracking And Research) team on Colonsay!

It is our fourth year here on the island (and my first) carrying out seabird tracking work with the previous three years tracking carried out as part of the Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment (FAME) project. This research aims to find out where UK seabirds are foraging in order to help inform the Marine Protected Area (MPA) designation process. Previous years tracking data is freely available to the public, policy makers and renewables companies at webgis.spea.pt/FAME. We encourage everyone to explore our ground-breaking results for themselves.

We are one of four STAR teams collecting data this year, with the others based on Orkney, Fair Isle and Rathlin (in addition to collaborating with people on the Isle of May, Skomer and Puffin Island).

Tessa and I are based on Colonsay for the next three months, a small island in the Southern Hebrides which is home to around 100 people, a general store, a bookshop and a brewery...what more could you want!? The landscape is comprised of a wide range of habitats from heather moorland to dunes, machair, sandy beaches and sea cliffs, and consequently has exceptionally rich biodiversity. Along with Islay it is the only place you can find breeding chough in Scotland.

We arrived here two weeks ago and have spent the time preparing for the field season ahead – this has involved a wide variety of tasks from re-acquainting ourselves with the locals (and the local cakes!) to cleaning and sorting equipment, reccing sites, and preparing the GPS tags we use on the birds.

The tags take quite a bit of sorting before they are ready: each must be charged and discharged at least twice, and then run through a series of tests to check that it is in full working order. We have over 150 tags so this is no mean feat! Fortunately we've been able to intersperse this with trips to the cliffs to re-familiarise ourselves with the sites and find out what the birds are up to – the short answer has so far been 'not much'. Shags are the first species we tag on Colonsay but we have to wait until they are settled on their nests incubating, and this year the onset of breeding for the shags appears to have been delayed. This could be due to the high winds and waves we've been experiencing. When breeding, When breeding, shags forage in shallower waters close to the colony and can find it difficult to feed when high winds cause turbulent waters.

On Monday we visited the local school to talk to them about our project and to try out the 'FAME game'. This involves sending the children to 'forage' for Sandeel fact cards whilst carrying one of the tags. We can then download the tracks from the tags and show them where they've been. With a class size of 3 (2 were off sick) it was a little intense but I think all of them had fun and learnt something about us and about the birds we study.

Aside from preparing for the field season we have been having fun at the island's Spring Festival. There have been a lot of talks and workshops on offer and we have been taking advantage of our relative free time to explore these fully! Spring is well underway on the island – we saw our first Cuckoo of the year last week and a Corncrake was heard yesterday in one of the fields near where we live. There are lambs gambolling everywhere you look and the Primroses are in bloom, as SpringWatch would have it “Spring has sprung”!

Our other teams have also been working hard: Team Rathlin has already tagged 3 birds on Great Saltee, team Orkney has been preparing for their first off-island trip and team Fair Isle have been playing it easy as their equipment only arrived on the ferry a few days ago! The advantage (or disadvantage) of once-a-week post. We will all be keeping you updated throughout the season with our progress.

All washed up

2013-05-01T08:30:00Z

Following last week’s blog from the wonderful rubbish-busting team on Coquet Island, our equally wonderful team on Ramsey Island sent me these pictures (thanks Lisa!).

After just one storm one of Ramsay’s beaches was filled with plastic bottles (enough to fill 20 bin bags – yes, twenty, from just one small beach!), along with the usual monofilament fishing line, rope, aerosols, and even part of an old fridge freezer!

The team did a great job clearing the beach. Not a happy task, but time very well spent.

As the weather is starting to improve, encouraging us all to get out and about more often, anything you can do to help remove rubbish from your environment is a help to wildlife. Why not take a rubbish bag (and some gloves!) next time you are out for a walk? Or perhaps organise a litter pick where you live? Your council may be able to help. I’m doing a littler pick in my village in a couple of weeks time. The council brings the bags, litter pick ‘grabber’ sticks, protective gloves, fluorescent tabards, and take away the rubbish immediately afterwards to dispose of it properly. Two years ago we found an abundance of lager cans in just one short stretch of ditch. Last year we found more than 30 empty vodka bottles in the same place. I wonder if it will be meths this year!

Puffins say no to plastic

2013-04-26T05:20:00Z

A few years ago I spent a lucky three months on a remote Fijian island. I was volunteering in a conservation project that ultimately contributed to the waters around the tiny island being designated a Marine Protected Area. It was an amazing experience that was full of wonderful surprises.

And one less pleasant surprise.

The amount of litter that washed up on the beach round the headland (where the prevailing winds struck the island) was depressing. We regularly cleared it, but every tide brought a new barrage of plastic bottles, tattered flip flops, plastic rope and the like. Detritus that can spell death to marine wildlife.

Our own marine wildlife closer to home suffers just the same problem So our wonderful warden Wes and volunteers at Coquet Island recently did a good bit of beach clearing – and made this fabulous video to encourage us all to reduce, reuse and recycle where we can.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

How can this be legal? You can help change it.

2013-04-19T11:58:00Z

There is a picture at the bottom of this blog post - I have put it at the bottom so you can choose to scroll down and see it, or not. I warn you, it is heart breaking.

It is a picture of two dead guillemots, covered in PIB. They are hardly recognisable as birds, let alone guillemots. In the background there are more dead bodies. These are just some of the birds collected from just three beaches in South Cornwall by contractors working for Cornwall Council. The bodies filled two industrial skips.

Yesterday we reported that over 1,000 birds are now known to be dead (plus countless more lost at sea). There are more than 200 live birds being cared for by the welfare charities RSPCA and South Devon Seabird Trust.

We don’t know whether this particular discharge of the killer PIB was legal or illegal. But the fact is, it can be discharged legally. And when PIB comes into contact with sea water, it turns into a sticky glue. A sticky glue that spells death to seabirds because they are no longer able to fly, and no longer able to forage. Many of the birds washed up are emaciated. It must be a cruel and lingering death.

Today we have joined forces with the RSPCA and the Wildlife Trusts calling for a ban on all discharges of PIB. We have written to Stephen Hammond MP – a minister at the Department for Transport – calling for urgent action. We urge you all to do the same.

Alternatively (or as well!) you can sign a petition – both Avaaz and 38 Degrees have organised petitions calling for the law to be changed, to make it illegal to discharge PIB in any quantity into our seas.

Remember, if you see any affected birds, please don't touch them, or let your dog touch them. We do not know how hazardous PIB may be in this format. Also, if the bird is still alive, a stressed bird is difficult to catch so you may unintentionally cause it further distress and it may escape back to sea untreated. If you find an affected live bird, please contact the RSPCA (call 0300 1234 999). If you find a dead bird, please report it to the RSPB on 01392 432691.

You can read more about PIB and our views in our briefing document.

Here is the picture:

Image: BTO Image Library

Camera's, Action! Clydach Wildlife Explorer Group visit Skomer Island

2013-04-18T13:02:46Z

Last summer our very own Clydach Wildlife explorer group visited Skomer island.

Armed with video cameras they filmed the puffins and made a short video about why our seabirds need better protection - not just on shore but at sea too. The RSPB continues to call on Welsh Government to deliver its duties and provide protection for seabirds at sea, and hopes to have some positive messages to tell you in 2013!

(Please visit the site to view this video)

thanks to all who helped make this possible

Gareth C

Hundreds more seabirds dead

2013-04-17T08:46:00Z

Gannets and guillemots: Ian McCarthy

Hundreds of seabirds, mostly guillemots, have again been washed up along the south coast of England covered in a debilitating sticky substance. This is a virtual repeat of the incident back in February this year when over 500 birds were found from Devon to Dorset. See the February pages of this blog for more information.

This time however the tide of dead birds is further west in south east Cornwall and South Devon, in just a couple of days over 700 birds have been washed ashore. For a personal perspective on this seabird tragedy visit the blog of Alison Fogg in Cornwall In a walk on Monday 15 April she was horrified to discover over 157 dead birds on a short stretch of Cornish beach.

What is the scale of the incident?

So far we know hundreds birds have been affected. Over 400 dead birds have been collected from Cornish beaches, with more than 200 live birds affected. As of 16 April, 197 live birds had been taken to the RSPCA centre at West Hatch alone. However, we will probably never know the full extent of this incident as many of the birds are likely to be lost at sea. It is generally accepted that 3-10 times as many birds die at sea than are washed ashore in incidents like these. It appears that along with the increasing numbers of birds affected, the range of species affected, and locations where they have been found are also increasing.

Guillemots have been most affected, as 90% of the birds washed up have been this amber-listed bird of conservation concern. Other species involved have included puffins, razorbills, shags, cormorants, terns and gannets. It is thought many of these birds will be local breeding birds, indeed we know one of the dead gannets was a bird from the colony in Alderney, Channel Islands.

Guillemot: Bob Mitchell

What is causing this?

The deadly pollutant is the same as back in February, polyisobutene (PIB), which is used for a wide range of purposes, from fuel additives to chewing gum. As before, there is no indication as to the source of this pollution. Despite its lethal effect on seabirds, under international marine pollution regulations (The MARPOL Convention) it is perfectly legal to discharge certain amounts of PIB into our marine environment when vessels wash out their tanks.

Guillemot: Ian McCarthy

What next?

RSPB staff and volunteers are undertaking an emergency survey of beaches in the affected area to record any dead birds (and pass details of live birds to RSPCA).

The RSPB has written to the International Maritime Organisation asking for a review of this position and is also raising this issue with the government. We believe that the risks to the marine environment from PIB are underestimated, and that we simply do not know how much PIB is regularly released into the sea in legal discharges. As such, we believe that until we can prove PIB is safe, it should be reclassified to prohibit its discharge.

Longer term, the key to mitigating the impact of incidents like this is a healthy population in the first place, so the future of a species is not significantly impaired by one-off disasters. One of the best ways to build resilience into our marine wildlife is a well-connected network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

MPAs will not stop individuals caught in a disaster from dying, but they provide a healthy reservoir to allow the population to recover. It is therefore disappointing that the current proposals for English Marine Conservation Zones proposed by the government for implementation in 2013 are so inadequate, as criticised last week by the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee. Not only are there not enough sites proposed (only 31 of the 127 agreed and recommended by stakeholders), but they will also be protecting fewer habitats and species in many cases. Mobile species in particular are poorly accounted for in the 31 sites proposed, and not a single one of those sites currently includes seabirds as protected species.

What do I do if I find an affected bird?

If you find an affected live bird, we advise you not to touch it, as we do not know how hazardous the contaminant may be. Also, a stressed bird is difficult to catch, so you may unintentionally cause it further distress and it may escape back to sea untreated. If you find any affected live birds, please contact the RSPCA (call 0300 1234 999). If you find a dead bird, please report it to the RSPB on 01392 432691.

Acknowledgements

This is a very distressing event, and we applaud the RSPCA, South Devon Seabird Trust, Cornwall and Devon Wildlife Trusts, BTO and of course all the volunteers who are working to help resolve the situation.

Marine Science needs a step change, and MCZs are vital

2013-04-11T10:12:00Z

New report from Parliamentary Committee

Today the Parliamentary Science & Technology Committee releases their report into the way that science and evidence are used in the marine environment, following their enquiry at the end of 2012. I’d encourage you to have a read of it, as it contains some strong messages to Government, in particular on the recent selection of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in England and the importance of data and monitoring.

From the RSPB’s perspective, the report’s conclusions and recommendations highlight many of the same key issues that we raised in our recent response to the consultation on MCZs, which closed last month.

Some of the main conclusions on MCZs from the Committee’s MPs include:

The Government has not set a clear vision for MCZs and appears to have lost impetus for selecting them;
The Government “shifted the goalposts” during the MCZ process to require a higher level of evidence, and should stick to its standard of best available evidence as set out in its initial MCZ guidance, and not delay sites further because of scientific uncertainty;
It is not clear why the 31 sites being taken forward this year were selected and others not. MPs also want information on how the MCZs that haven’t come forward in the current tranche will be protected in the meantime;
A clear timetable, with a clear end date, for the designation of the current and further tranches of MCZs must be provided by Government.

We would urge the Government to take this opportunity to reinvigorate their original vision (in place since 2002) of “clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas”, and take the actions needed to deliver this, by designating a full and ecologically coherent network of protected areas at sea as soon as possible. As well as MCZs, this network also includes a suite of marine sites of European importance for seabirds (called Special Protection Areas), which is a long way from complete. Only with such an approach will the risks to our important marine wildlife be reduced.

A further important area that the report highlights is the value of data and monitoring. As the Committee itself concludes, “collecting scientific evidence about our marine environment is fundamentally important to the Government’s marine policy agenda”.

The Committee’s recommendation has two strands. Firstly, the Committee recommends that the Government and the relevant agency, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) should develop proposals that would make sharing of more data at sea a condition of licensing commercial activities in UK waters. The information that industry collects is highly relevant to a range of other marine work areas, such as marine planning and the location of protected sites, and should guide the smart roll-out of marine renewable energy.

Secondly, the Committee is concerned that long-term monitoring programmes that tell us so much about the natural environment over time are not funded strategically. One particular example that we are very concerned about at the moment is the regular census of breeding seabirds that takes place every 15 years. This really important census tells us how well or how badly seabird populations around the UK are doing and makes an assessment of what the main impacts are. It’s the basis for so much of what we do but the last census was back in 2000 and so the next one is due soon. The Government needs to make ‘Seabird 2015’ a real priority and we are concerned that initial preparation is not taking place as quickly as it should.

We hope that the Government uses the recommendations of the Science & Technology Committee’s report as positive encouragement to improve marine science, fill the data gaps and create a mandate to deliver more effective marine conservation. The time is now.

Kittiwake: Kaleel Zibe (rspb-images.com)

Update on puffins washed up along Scotland's east coast

2013-03-27T14:19:00Z

Over the last week, we’ve received reports of hundreds of seabirds, mostly puffins, as well as smaller numbers of guillemots and razorbills, washing up on beaches along Scotland’s east coast and on down to Northumberland.

These seabird ‘wrecks’ are thought to be the worst in several decades and may be the result of the ongoing harsh weather we’ve been experiencing. The exact causes are still unknown.

Despite their small stature, puffins are hardy birds and it is particularly concerning to see them washed up showing signs of starvation and exhaustion.

After fledging from our seacliffs in late summer, these birds travel long distances and spend the winter months at sea, before returning to our shores for the breeding season in late spring.

There are concerns that the scale of this wreck may have an impact on the upcoming seabird breeding season as many species are already facing steep declines. Conservationists will be monitoring populations closely throughout the summer season.

We are working with the Centre of Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) to monitor the situation and learn as much as possible about the cause of the wrecks. Recovery of the birds along our beaches for post-mortem examination is currently underway. You can help by reporting any sightings to us or the CEH.

Renowned seabird expert Mike Harris is on the scene and wrote an informative blog update yesterday. Keep an eye on this blog for further updates.

Wrecks have been reported at the following locations:

Panbride, Angus

Carnoustie, Angus

Warkworth, Northumberland

Balmedie, Aberdeenshire

Cambois, Northumberland

Beadnell Beach, Northumberland

Ramsey Island on YouTube

2013-03-22T11:01:47Z

Great news - We are pleased to announce that the RSPB Ramsey Island reserve has gone multi-media!

Armed with a digital camcorder - our Wardens Greg and Lisa are going to bring you snippets of island life and its amazing wildlife, plus some of the surround ing area like Grassholm.

We've already uploaded some videos, here's some examples;

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Some fantastic footage of common Dolphins swimming along side the boat. These are reported to be the fastest dolhpins found in Welsh waters, reaching speeds of up to 27mph! Large congregations can be seen in Welsh waters from May to November off the Pembrokeshire coast.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

A stunning view of the Gannets of Grassholm, the Western most point of Wales, and home to around an amazing 39,000 pairs of northern Gannet. making it the 3rd biggest colony in the Uk after St.Kilda and Bass Rock.

Theres more videos on the channel - so why not subscribe and keep up to date with whats going on. My favourite so far, was uploaded yesterday (20th March) and goes to show that when your on an Island your at the mercy of the elements!

(Please visit the site to view this video)

For more information on the Ramsey island reserve: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/ramseyisland/about.aspx

28 seconds worth sharing

2013-03-19T09:00:00Z

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Wes, one of the small but dedicated team working at Coquet Island, made this video to help encourage people to show their much needed support for our sealife. It's brilliant - just 28 seconds long, worth watching, and worth sharing (please......).

The consultation for England's seas closes at the end of this month , and the process is currently stuck in Northern Ireland - so show your support today at www.rspb.org.uk/marine

Help us (Fish) Fight for better marine protection!

2013-03-01T12:26:46Z

By Sharon Thompson, Senior Marine Policy Officer

Thursday night saw the last in the present series of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s FishFight ‘Save our Seas’ campaign. This programme highlighted a number of important marine conservation and sustainability issues including:

Illegal fishing (in marine reserves in Thailand) – highlighting the need for proper enforcement both inside and outside Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) everywhere
Catching miniscule fish and anything else off the seabed (often not for human consumption) – this practice contributes to fish stock declines and the failure of stocks to recover from over-fishing as these fish never get to breeding size, plus it damages the marine environment and removes all other marine life at the same time
Using these undersize and illegally caught fish and sealife to create feed for farmed prawns – raising concerns over the sustainability of the seafood, particularly prawns, sold in the UK, Europe and across the globe
The urgent need to designate MPAs to protect important, sensitive and threatened marine species and habitats, both in UK waters and elsewhere

The last point throws a spotlight on the Government’s unambitious proposals for new Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English waters, currently out for consultation until the end of March. The Government are only proposing to designate up to 31 out of the 127 sites that were recommended by stakeholder groups (including fishermen, industry and environmentalists) at the end of 2011, and there is no timetable for when the rest of the sites will be brought forward. And as it stands, none of the proposed sites will include mobile species such as seabirds, dolphins, whales or sharks as protected species.

The RSPB is concerned that this pattern is repeating itself across the UK, as currently none of the processes to identify MCZs in England and Wales and MPAs in Scotland will deliver protection for the important areas used by seabirds at sea for key activities such as feeding and moulting. While the Northern Ireland Marine Bill has stalled.

You can help! You can step up for nature by adding your voice to the call for an ecologically coherent network MPAs around the UK by signing our e-actions.

To help protect the seas around England, click here today.

To help protect the seas around Northern Ireland, click here today.

We expect the next steps for Wales and Scotland to happen in the summer. Why not sign up to this blog to get a reminder straight in to your inbox?

Northern fulmar: Mike Read (rspb-images.com)