{"id":1596,"date":"2012-07-03T13:00:16","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T12:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/?p=1596"},"modified":"2012-11-15T21:41:09","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T21:41:09","slug":"lyme-bay-marine-protected-area-how-effective-is-it-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/lyme-bay-marine-protected-area-how-effective-is-it-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyme Bay Marine Protected Area: How effective is it? update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five days ago the skipper\/owner of a Brixham based trawler\/scallop dredger, the Kelly Marina II (BM454) was convicted and fined for using towed bottom-fishing gear (apparently scallop dredges) within Lyme Bay Closed Area<\/a>, a 60 nautical mile exclusion zone for such gear.\u00a0 This Closed Area was established for conservation reasons (the first and so far only one established for such reasons in U.K. waters), specifically the rocky reefs that occur in the Bay and their associated fauna.\u00a0 So, given the high profile of this recently established protected area, (widely regarded as a flagship protect and a test area for such marine pretected areas in UK waters), and given the long and protracted process (18 years between concerns being years and statutory protection finally arriving) of establishing this Closed Area, then no doubt the authorities would be keen to show that this is not just the ‘same old routine’.\u00a0 One imagines they would be keen to show that this was a step change and that they were no serious about conservation.\u00a0 Given also that it is quite impossible to adequately police such an area then one images that stiff punative fines would be the order of the day to send out a clear message concerning the risks if you get caught breaking the rules.\u00a0 The difficulty in policing was clearly demonstrated by the fact the evidence of this vessel’s transgression was captured by a Dorset Police helicopter seconded from the Air Surveillence Unit.\u00a0 One immediately wonders how often this happens when police helicopters are not around.\u00a0 So, given these factors there would obviously have been a very stiff fine….er no.\u00a0 The fine was \u00a31000, plus \u00a33000 costs and \u00a315 victim surcharge (what?).\u00a0 So a grand total of \u00a34015; that’s just a few good days earnings for such a vessel.\u00a0 now imagine a house burglar stealing televisions.\u00a0 Let’s say each is worth \u00a3150 resale value.\u00a0 He only does this occasionally, so manages to nick five a month on average; not bad:\u00a3750 easily earned.\u00a0 Then he get’s caught, Damn! But not to worry, his fine is only 350 quid, he’s still \u00a3400 in pocket.\u00a0 Not much of a deterrent is it?\u00a0 Nor does it send a great message to the majority of fishermen who are abiding by the rules and incurring greater costs by having to steam further to fish outside the Closed Area (thus greater fuel costs, longer steaming time and so shorter fishing times).\u00a0 The fine was imposed by Weymouth Magistrate’s Court.\u00a0 You can read further details on the marine management website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five days ago the skipper\/owner of a Brixham based trawler\/scallop dredger, the Kelly Marina II (BM454) was convicted and fined for using towed bottom-fishing gear (apparently scallop dredges) within Lyme Bay Closed Area, a 60 nautical mile exclusion zone for such gear. This Closed Area was established for conservation reasons (the first and so far only one established for such reasons in U.K. waters), specifically the rocky reefs that occur in the Bay and their associated fauna. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[210,69,367],"tags":[561,557,1101,369,371,370,401,558,560,368,559,372],"class_list":["post-1596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fishing-boats","category-lyme-bay","category-marine-protected-areas","tag-bottom-towed-fishing-gear","tag-illegal-fishing","tag-lyme-bay","tag-lyme-bay-closed-area","tag-lyme-bay-exclusion-area","tag-lyme-bay-no-take-zone","tag-lyme-bay-reefs","tag-lyme-bay-statutory-instrument","tag-marine-management-organisation","tag-marine-protected-areas-2","tag-mmo","tag-scallop-dredging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1596"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2123,"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions\/2123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colinmunrophotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}