The 25 YEP refresh series: What will it take to make English seas healthy?

(c) Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

This is the second of a series of seven blog posts covering our asks in several environmental areas of the 25 Year Environment Plan. In this second post of the series, written by Jacques Villemot, Marine Policy Officer, we will address the RSPB asks for the UK seas. 

Since the publication of the 25YEP seabird numbers have continued their decline but government has been slow to turn its proposals into meaningful action. With the refresh coming up shortly, it's time to integrate ambitious and measurable outcomes for the marine environment into this framework. 

In 2018, when the 25 Years Environment Plan was published, it set out the direction for Westminster Government’s environmental policies, including in a marine context; Two key areas were identified for Government action in the marine environment: 

• Implement a sustainable fisheries policy as we leave the Common Fisheries Policy. 
• Achieve good environmental status (GES) of our seas while allowing marine industries to thrive and complete our ecologically coherent network of well-managed marine protected areas (MPAs). 

5 years later and the road to success is still rather long, whilst the pressures on the marine environment are becoming more and more pressing, as demonstrated by the current avian flu epidemic. So, what has been achieved and what are the gaps and priority areas Westminster’s Government should be looking towards to help with this agenda?  

2018-2022 – what has been achieved? 

Over the past 5 years we have seen much movement in environmental policy, but, with the exception of the passing of the Environment Act 2021, concrete action to reach the targets set for the marine environment has been scarce. 

Two main developments, both relating to the management of MPAs, can be noted: 

• Firstly, a program was launched in 2020 to manage fishing practices in the 50 offshore protected sites in English waters by 2024. This has led to protection being delivered in four sites, including the Dogger Bank, a site of key importance to foraging seabirds. However, 46 sites still lack management measures, with 13 under current consultation. 
• Secondly, Westminster’s Government launched a consultation on a program to deliver pilot Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). Candidates established so far are small and few in number, but this is a welcome initiative and if the level of ambition can match what has been announced in Scotland – 10% of their sea designated as HPMA by 2026 – it could become an effective tool for marine recovery. 

What are the gaps? 

Unfortunately though, many gaps remain to reach the two major goals set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan and there has been a notable lack of ambitious action by Westminster’s Government.  
To meet the target of implementing a sustainable fisheries policy as we leave the Common Fisheries Policy, the following actions could have been taken, and will need to be rapidly adopted, to pave the way towards success: 

• Firstly, an effective future fisheries strategy for England and the UK is needed. The Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) is due to be published in November, but the draft released earlier this year lacked detail – an issue that has been picked up by the newly established Office for Environmental Protection, created to hold the Westminster Government to account. We hope this final statement will deliver upon the notable gaps within the draft version.  
• Further, the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative which was recently published is insufficient to tackle the reduction or elimination of seabird bycatch. 
• Finally, Fisheries Management Plans must be published to better manage fish stocks.  A timeline for publication is anticipated within the Joint Fisheries Statement.  

Regarding the aim to achieve GES of our seas, while allowing marine industries to thrive, and complete our ecologically coherent network of well-managed MPAs, these too fall short: 

• The UK Marine Strategy has failed to achieve GES for 11 of the 14 indicators it measures since its establishment. During this time, seabirds have in fact moved away from the target and recent efforts from UK Governments to include a loophole in the updated strategy, so that they do not have to meet GES by the agreed target of 2024, are cause for concern. 
• The Marine Planning system in England, developed to manage our seas and the activities which take place there, is vastly inadequate and obsolete, not fit for purpose when it comes to tackling the challenges highlighted by the mass deployment of offshore wind. In 2020 Westminster’s Government committed to review the plan that covers the East of England, a pilot for the other English plans, however this still has not been addressed. As a result, English seas are still lacking the effective, holistic and strategic spatial management they need.  

What do we need to see in the 25 Year Environment Plan update? 

To reach the goals set by Westminster’s Government, the RSPB has identified 5 key commitments that need to be included in the refreshed Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). 

1. An adequately resourced England Seabird Conservation and Recovery Plan:
   1. The inclusion of this document in the upcoming EIP should not undermine this Plan’s ambition and, but instead allow for its integration in the wider environmental policy framework. This plan is a crucial piece of the puzzle to effectively halt seabird decline and support their recovery. 
2. Further development of bycatch policy to ensure it leads to tangible actions to monitor, reduce and eliminate bycatch, including the delivery of Remote Electronic Monitoring at Sea. 
3. Enhanced protection of forage fish, delivering on a forage fish strategy and introducing long term closures to the UK EEZ for sandeel fishing in order to reach sustainable fishing limits and allow recovery of stocks:
   1. Protecting our seabirds’ food source is a crucial step to allow for their recovery. In England, site protection currently only applies to their nesting sites, virtually only designating safe places to starve. Better management of forage fish species would thus greatly benefit seabirds which rely on them for food and help build resilience in the face of climate change. 
4. A more comprehensive and effective MPA network with adequate monitoring, management and enforcement. The EIP should define an interim target for 60% of MPA protected features to be in favourable condition by 2028, including taking into account effective protection and restoration of blue carbon features. There should also be a commitment to review the SPA network and plug remaining gaps for protection of seabirds – particularly in light of avian flu - picking up the SPA sufficiency review outlined in 2016: 
   1. The network of protected sites still contains some major gaps, including the lack of designated sites for forage fish species but also the omission of appropriate designation for some key sites and species, such as Balearic shearwaters, a critically endangered species. 
   2. Beyond designation, MPAs must benefit from appropriate management to meet governments’ target of 30% of seas protected and effectively managed by 2030 (30x30). Westminster’s Government’s program to manage fisheries impact in the 50 offshore MPAs is a step in the right direction, but the practice is still too limited. It is also urgent that inshore sites benefit from appropriate management, monitoring and enforcement. 
5. Development of a complete set of strategic, holistic and truly spatial marine plans, led by Westminster’s Government, providing clarity for marine users across the breadth of UK seas and facilitating development alongside the achievement of GES. 

Time for ambitious and concrete action 

Since the adoption of the 25 Year Environment Plan, progress in the marine environment has been far too slow. The list of concrete actions to reach the legally binding targets Government had set out for itself remains meagre, whilst the list of gaps needing to be addressed is too long Meanwhile the list of challenges our seabirds face is ever increasing, with the current avian flu epidemic placing an additional heavy burden. To give our seabirds a chance, enable their recovery and build their resilience, it is critical that this updated EIP reflects high-level ambition backed by measurable commitments. The past few years have seen a remarkable amount of time spent on developing strategies and frameworks; it is now time for concrete, on the ground, change.