Management measures are the tools used to protect the features (e.g. the species and habitats) within an MCZ and could be voluntary or statutory. These protection measures are a big area of concern for sea users as they could restrict existing activities. The RYA has been engaged on this topic at a national and regional level for many years and discussions are on-going regarding how MCZs will be managed and what activities are likely to be affected.
The RYA has responded to Government throughout the designation process emphasising our view that there needs to be sound, objective and robust evidence to support the requirement for any management measure before it can be implemented, and that measures should be subject to regular review once in place to make sure they are effective.
Although potential management scenarios were included in the consultation for tranche two sites, management measures have yet to be decided.
The tranche two Defra consultation stated "management of activities which do not require a marine licence, such as commercial fishing and recreation activities, are being introduced in a risk-based, phased approach, by relevant regulators (mainly Marine Management Organisation and Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities), to ensure the species and habitats most at risk from damaging activities are protected first".
Defra further confirmed that following designation "regulators will review activities at site level and consider what management may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the site. When an MCZ is designated it does not automatically mean that economic and recreational activities in that site will be restricted. Decisions will be taken on a case by case basis, and management will not be put in place for activities which do not have a detrimental impact on achieving the conservation aims of the MCZ".
As management measures are to be decided on a case by case basis, the RYA has also been engaging on specific local issues such as potential restrictions on anchoring and mooring. As the process to refine potential MCZ locations and associated management measures continues we will take every opportunity to emphasise the importance of safe anchorages for recreational boaters.
It is worth noting that it is implicit within the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 that any protection measures may be contravened in an emergency (i.e. if necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of any vessel or for the purpose of saving a life) and this exemption will apply even in the event of the introduction of byelaws or orders to restrict anchoring or other activities in a particular location.
The Government has committed to ensuring that management measures are put in place within two years of designation.
The RYA supports the UK and Devolved Governments' shared vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas and believes that, in most cases, this vision can be achieved without any adverse impact on either the public right or the safety of navigation for recreational boating.
The RYA's primary objectives of engaging in the MCZ consultation process are to protect the public right of navigation and to ensure, as far as possible, that recreational boating interests are not adversely affected by the designation of such MCZs.
Find out more about the RYA's Position on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
How did the RYA respond to the consultation?
The RYA submitted a detailed and robust response to the public consultation on both the first and second tranche of MCZs. In addition, we gathered new socio-economic data though our clubs and regions and submitted this in response to Defra's call for additional stakeholder evidence. Our response to the consultations built upon and our engagement on MCZs since stakeholder engagement began in 2009.
MCZs, together with other types of designations, are being put in place to deliver the requirement for the Government to establish an "ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas". MCZs are being designated in English inshore waters and offshore waters adjacent to England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Additional Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are also to be designated across the UK.
This network of marine protected areas is intended to be a collection of sites that work together to provide more benefits than an individual protected site could on its own.
How were the sites first chosen?
In England, at the start of the process in 2008, the MCZ project was split into four regional projects: Finding Sanctuary in the south west, Balanced Seas in the south east, Net Gain in the North Sea and the Irish Sea Conservation Project. These regional MCZ projects worked with sea users and interest groups to identify MCZs and then provided recommendations for sites within their regions to Government in 2011.
Since then, Government has considered these sites, gathered more evidence and sought the advice of their conservation advisors Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The first tranche of MCZs were designated in English inshore and offshore waters in 2013.
Reference Areas are highly protected Marine Conservation Zones where all extraction, deposition or human-derived disturbance is removed or prevented. These areas are intended to provide a better understanding of human impacts on the marine environment and give scientists a way to differentiate between the effects caused by humans and those arising from natural environmental factors.
Reference Areas are the most contentious aspect of the MCZ process for recreational boaters because activities which are considered potentially damaging or disturbing are very likely to be controlled or even excluded; this could include anchoring, mooring, mark-laying and "noisy" boating activities such as motor boating and personal water craft. The nature of the restrictions will be directly linked to the habitat or species which the Reference Area is established to protect.
It may be possible to introduce management measures to reduce harm to acceptable levels and thus enable certain activities to continue. Relevant examples for boating include provision of moorings to support restrictions on anchoring and seasonal speed restrictions to limit noise disturbance by motorised craft.
Reference Areas have not been considered for inclusion in either the first or second tranche of sites. Defra has commissioned a review into whether they are required from an ecological standpoint and if there is a legal basis for their implementation. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) has been asked to carry out this review and we are still awaiting the results.