We've just made a short video about Welsh marine life .We hope to make some more video's over the coming months highlighting some of the amazing species in Welsh waters.

www.youtube.com/watch

you can view the video here: http://youtu.be/ASjbQdAwoMg

In July 2013 Alun Davies, Minister for Natural resources and the environment, in his announcement on MCZs mentioned the long awaited Special Protected Area (SPA…

Filey is a small and proud fishing town, situated eight miles south of Scarborough in North Yorkshire. There has been some form of fishing here for hundreds of years, including a fisheries dispute in the 12^th Century between boats from Filey and Whitby, which had to be settled by none other than the Pope. In Filey Bay itself, there has been a long-standing salmon and sea-trout fishery for many years, which uses static…

This may be the other side of the world, but its a world we share.  This is worth watching - and thinking about when you next want a carbonated drink......

www.youtube.com/watch

RSPB Conservation Officer, Sarah Sankey,  tells us about the challenges facing Orkney's seabird cities...

The Orcadian seabird story

Orkney was, until recently, famed for its seabird spectacles. Today, as I ascend the cliffs of Marwick Head reserve, instead of a growing sense of awe and excitement, I walk with a heavy heart and a deep sense of foreboding. I remember that just ten short years ago, as I left the car…

What has Ireland, Wales, Bangladesh, Kenya and Botswana all got in common? It’s not a group of countries you would often see connected together...Any guesses? No? Well, they have all managed to implement bans or levies on plastic bags that have drastically reduced their use.

Back in England, a proposal to introduce a levy was shelved back in February and our stance has begun to look a bit irrational and isolated…

Emily Scragg, Research Assitant with the Seabird Tracking and Research team (STAR), gives the final update of the season...

STAR- spangled seas

This will be the last update from the STAR seabird tracking work, as we near the end of our fieldwork season. For a background to the project please see our website and our previous blog posts (here, here and here, and also a post from Martin Harper when joined us for a day…

If the UK’s network of Marine Protected Areas is designated and properly managed it will inevitably have both costs and benefits for different individuals and sectors. Trying to add these up on a level playing field is fraught with difficulty.

Money is the metric that generally holds the most sway when it comes to decision making and an Impact Assessment is a tool that tries to objectively present the costs and…

In April 2012 Welsh Government consulted on a proposal to designate 3 or 4 highly protected MCZs. This met with strong opposition, which resulted in the previous Environment Minister, John Griffiths, suspending the consultation and creating a new MCZ Stakeholder Focus Group. This group was formed to work with a Welsh Government Task & Finish Team on informing a new approach to MCZs in Wales.

Today, 18th July,  Alun…

By Alec Taylor, marine policy officer

Yesterday, the first ever marine plan in English waters came out for public consultation (finally!). It covers roughly 55,000km2 across the Southern North Sea, and will guide how this unique and busy area should be used over the next 30 years. For perspective, that’s the same area as producing a plan for 40% of England’s land area! This marks the first in a really important stage…

from Sharon Thompson, Senior Marine Policy Officer

Today the UK Government published a summary of the responses to the consultation on Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English waters that was carried out at the start of the year, along with a statement to Parliament from the Minister, Richard Benyon.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) received over 40,000 responses from the public…

RSPB research assistants Chris Taylor and Derren Fox, give us an update on tracking seabirds on Orkney...

Tracking seabirds on Orkney

Seabird communities are great indicators of the health of the marine environment. This summer myself (Chris) and Derren Fox have been given the fantastic opportunity to assist with the monitoring of where seabirds are foraging for food. We have been attaching small GPS devices onto shags…

By Euan Dunn, Principal Marine Advisor (euan.dunn@rspb.org.uk)

In yesterday's vote in the European Parliament on public aid for the fisheries industry through the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), it became clear that there is no ambition to end overfishing in EU waters. Perversely, the vote undermines recent CFP reform by subsidising the growth of Europe’s already bloated fishing fleet, jeopardising the…

By Sharon Thompson, Senior Marine Policy Officer

In April, the Parliamentary Science & Technology Select Committee published it hard hitting Marine Science report.

The Committee’s report contains some strong messages to Government, in particular on the lack of ambition for Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in England and the importance of data and monitoring.

From the RSPB’s perspective, the report’s recommendations…

Ellie Owen, RSPB Conservation Scientist, celebrates an important milestone with her team...

The seabird tracking team 2013 celebrating an important milestone...

This week I have been thinking back to April 2010 when I, along with the rest of RSPB’s FAME seabird tracking team, headed out to my remote island sites to start the first season of catching and tagging seabirds on a scale and in a way that had never been…

I'm keen to give you an update on the work we've been doing following the dreadful marine pollution incidents this year, caused by the release of the hazardous substance polyisobutene (or PIB). 

Even though there are luckily no more seabirds being washed up covered in PIB, we’re still working hard to press the UK Government for answers in the short term (through the investigations by the Maritime and Coastguard…

Grey Seals are less apparent around the island in June as they feed up ready for the pupping season, but they are definitely making a splash this week.

Some exciting findings are coming through from our newly established link with the Cornwall Seal Group.  Sue Sayer established the group in 2004 and since moving to Cornwall in 1991 she has spent thou­sands of hours remotely observing grey seals in the wild, which has…

In the path of an Atlantic depression

An update from our Seabird Tracking and Research (STAR) team on Fair Isle.

In the path of an Atlantic depression

Fair Isle is arguably the most remote inhabited island in the UK, sandwiched between slices of the Orkney Islands and mainland Shetland in the North Atlantic. Measuring about 3 miles long by 1.5 miles wide, its breathtaking cliffs and fading afternoon light can reduce…

The EU fishing fleet is estimated to be two to three times bigger than it should be to achieve a healthy balance with fish stocks, making it a key driver of overfishing.  This gross overcapacity has been fuelled by decades of allowing taxpayers’ money to be spent on new and more powerful boats. 

Against this backdrop, on 10 July the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee will consider a number of highly controversial…

Lucy Quinn and Nick Richardson give us an update on seabird monitoring on Rathlin Island! Kittiwakes, fulmars, razorbills and much more...

Seabird monitoring on Rathlin Island

Hello from Team Rathlin! (*previously known as Team Great Saltee…)  We are continuing from Team Colonsay’s previous blog to give a little insight as to how things have progressed.

I suppose a blog about working with birds for the RSPB…

By Tom Hooper, Head of Marine Policy

The M5 in August should be proof enough that people like to spend their holidays by the seaside. Are we just following the same ruts that we have endured since childhood, or is their a deeper need within us to search for spiritual fulfilment on the coast?

Our health is important to us, and it is important to Government because they have to manage the costs of our ill-health. If…

Whats Rigsby all about then?

 Rigsby at Aberavon beach

Some of you may have noticed this little seabird on our facebook page over the last few weeks.

Having recently being named Rigsby thanks to you, its time to explain what his purpose is.

To put it simply. our seabirds lack the protection they need, not just here in Wales, but across the whole of the UK.

Wales has not seen the massive decline in seabirds like other…

By Sharon Thompson, Senior Marine Policy Officer, RSPB

We have now submitted over a third of a million (over 350,000) pledges to No.10 Downing Street, urging the Prime Minister to designate an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas in England’s waters without further delay.

As you can see, we – that’s the RSPB, the Marine Conservation Society, The Wildlife Trusts, WWF and Wildlife & Countryside…

By Sharon Thompson, Senior Marine Policy Officer

Today, the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, the Marine Conservation Society and WWF are delivering staggering 350,000+ pledges to the Prime Minister.

These pledges are signed by you ... and you ... and you!  This is the “Big Society” well and truly saying – we want urgent designation of marine protected areas to better protect the marine wildlife around England, including the…

Tomorrow is World Oceans Day, an annual opportunity to celebrate our oceans, and raise awareness of the crucial role they play in our lives, the pressures on our oceans and the important ways people can help.  Today Birdlife Europe has launched an alarm call on the failure of most EU countries to declare a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas – failure to protect Europe’s oceans and seabirds.

We…

Introducing the ‘cappuffinccino’!   A deliciously frothy coffee with a cute little chocolate puffin sprinkled on the top.   These are being sold across Bridlington to celebrate the return of the puffins to RSPB Bempton Cliffs.

There’s been a tremendous response to cappuffinccinos – around 30 cafes and pubs have signed up to serve them (you can see a full list here, and in Bridlington Tourist Information…