Glossopdale Sea Angling Club
( G.S.A.C. )

Marine Reserves Campaign

Help make sure that the Marine Bill gives the UK marine environment the protection that it needs.

(See below for what you can do and please forward widely)

A recent report revealed that the seas around the UK are amongst the most degraded in the world and most fish stocks are in a parlous state, with many species on the brink of commercial, or even actual extinction.  A recent Royal Commission report recommended a total ban on all commercial fishing and other environmentally damaging activities, covering a minimum of 30% of UK waters, as the only way to ensure the long-term survival of both many fish stocks and of a fishing industry.    

The Government have announced their intention to publish a draft Marine Bill, around the end of March, with a view to then putting it before parliament in the autumn. This bill provides a golden opportunity to do something before it is too late and the draft Bill is likely to include some measures to protect the marine environment, unfortunately all the indications are that the proposed measures are likely to be far more limited than most experts believe are necessary. 

To try to ensure that this opportunity is not missed MARINET, the Friends of the Earth marine network, have launched the UK Marine Reserves Campaign, to work with other organizations such as Greenpeace, WWF, The Wildlife Trusts, and the Marine Conservation Society, to try to get a requirement to set up an extensive network of highly protected marine reserves included in the Bill.  This is only likely to happen if we can moblize a lot of pressure on MPs and the Government.

As a first step towards trying to mobilize this pressure we are contacting as many organizations and individuals as we can, to ask you to support the campaign in any way that you feel able. 

To provide more background on why we need this campaign a briefing written for MPs is attached.  I also attach a Word version of this e-mail.

 

What you can do

Contact your local MP and ask others to do the same

An early day motion (EDM 1141) has been tabled in Parliament, calling for the Government to:

“…amend the current Marine Bill to include a duty on the Secretary of State to establish an ecologically coherent network of Highly Protected Marine Reserves covering at least 30% of UK seas out to 200 nautical miles."

The legal advice that we have received is that the Common Fisheries policy would not prevent the UK Government declaring reserves out to 200 nautical miles, as long as they were to protect the marine environment in general (which is what is proposed) rather than just fish stocks.

To put pressure on the Government we need to get as many MPs as possible to back this motion.  If people can do nothing else we are asking them to at least contact their MP to urge them to sign EDM 1141.  This can be done using WriteToThem, although if people feel able to then also arranging to see an MP in person can have even more impact and organizations in particular might like to arrange for them to meet with a delegation.

If you find that your MP has already signed the EDM then still write to them to thank them, as this will help to keep them onside.

If you are receiving this e-mail as a representative of an organization we would ask you to pass this request on to your members. 

 

Get involved in the campaign

Getting MPs to sign the EDM is only a first step, to get the kind of bill that is needed we will need to keep the pressure up for the next year, as it goes through Parliament.   We need to get as many organizations as possible to contribute to the consultation process, between when the draft bill is published and the end of June.  We will also need to generate as much media coverage of the campaign as we can and get as many people as possible involved in continuing to lobby the Government and individual MPs at every stage of the process.

If you/your organization would like to get involved with the campaign then please contact me. 

 

Get your organization to add its name to the list of campaign supporters

Even if your organization doesn’t feel able to get more actively involved, but would still like to express its support then let us know and we will still add your organization to the list of campaign sponsors.  The more organizations that the Government can see are supporting the campaign the more pressure it will create.

 

Donations

Running a big campaign costs money and if you would like to make a donation then cheques, made payable to the MARINET, can be sent to:

 

Malcolm Scott,
42 Percy Road,
Whitley Bay,
Tyne and Wear
NE26 2AY.

Please indicate that the donation is for the Marine Reserves Campaign

 

“They are stripping our seas bare” – “30%, the naked truth”

Particularly outside of costal areas we need to work hard to raise the profile of this issue.  Given the way that over fishing is “stripping” our seas of fish and the way that bottom trawling “strips” the seabed “bare” of all life some of us are looking at organizing a series of naked actions and photo shoots around the above slogans, as a way of drawing attention to the need for action.

Nothing is planned before the weather gets warmer, but we are looking for volunteers to take part when it does and it would help with forward planning to have some indication of how many people might be prepared to participate.  If you might be prepared to join in please contact me.  More information on what we have in mind and on precedents for such actions can be found on the marine reserves page of the Leicester Friends of the Earth website.

 

Help generate publicity for the campaign

To build the campaign and to help generate pressure on the Government we need to generate as much publicity as possible. 

If you are a national organization signing up to sponsor the campaign then put out a press release, or let us have a quote, to include in a press release that we can put out.

If you are a local group or organization signing up to support the campaign then think about putting out a press release to your local media, saying that you are doing so.

If you are a local group or organization lobbying your MP, or congratulating them on already having signed the EDM, put out a press release about this and perhaps offer them a photo opportunity of you meeting with them.

If members of your organization are going to take part in one of the “They are stripping our seas bare” actions, tell the local media in advance and send them photos afterwards.

If you are a local group or organization with little experience of using the media I have put a page on media work on the Leicester Friends of the Earth website.  There is also an archive of press releases that we have done, on a wide range of issues.

 

Forward this e-mail to other groups, organizations and individuals

We cannot possibly reach everyone who might support the campaign directly, so please forward this e-mail as widely as you can, to other groups, organizations and individuals who you think might be willing to support the campaign.

 
Malcolm Hunter

UK Marine Reserves Campaign Activism Lead
and Leicester Friends of the Earth.