Balanced Seas meets Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.
The Marine and Coastal Access Bill received Royal Assent on 12 November 2009 which means a green light for Marine Conservation Zones.
In the south-east, Marine Conservation Zones will be identified and recommended with the full input of all sea users, through the Balanced Seas project.
Balanced Seas waters are home to a host of important wildlife and habitats from unique underwater chalk cliff communities, to productive sand banks. The challenge is to protect these and balance important economic and recreational activities.
Sue Wells and Hannah Thomas, from the Balanced Seas Project, with other stakeholders, met Hilary Benn at Shoreham Harbour in Sussex on 12 November 2009 to talk about some of the activities now underway in the south-east to implement the new Marine and Coastal Access Act.
The Balanced Seas team showed preliminary maps produced by the project’s GIS officer, Greg Vaughan, and described the importance of gathering information from all available sources. Divers from the SeaSearch project explained the importance and richness of Sussex’s underwater life, and members of the Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee talked about their research activities which will support Balanced Seas.
