Beachy Head East Marine Conservation Zone consultation

admin
, 11 April 2024
Beachy Head East Marine Conservation Zone consultation
Short-snouted Seahorse © Paul Naylor

By Sarah Ward

Marine Conservation Officer

The Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) are currently running a consultation on the proposed fisheries management for the Beachy Head East Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ).

Designated in 2019, Beachy Head East is a large site characterised by a highly diverse sandstone / chalk reef system. The MCZ specifically protects several important features, including Short-snouted Seahorses, subtidal chalk, Ross Worm reefs, and subtidal sand and course sediment.

Under the Marine & Coastal Access Act (2007) the Sussex IFCA has a duty to introduce fisheries management to all MCZs within its district. The management must allow the site to meet its conservation objectives. Further information on the process and conservation objectives can be found here.

What Management is being Proposed?

The Sussex IFCA has proposed a zonal approach to management, with an exclusion of bottom-towed fishing gear within Zone 1. Zone 2 does not exclude any kind of fishing, but vessels operating bottom-towed gear in this Zone must be fitted with a Vessel Information & Monitoring System.

Full details and illustrative maps can be found on the Sussex IFCA website.

How is Sussex Wildlife Trust Responding?

Sussex Wildlife Trust is in support of an exclusion of bottom-towed fishing gear, however we feel that the exclusion should be extended across the whole MCZ.

Although we appreciate that Zone 1 contains the habitats which are highly sensitive to this kind of fishing, Zone 2 is almost entirely made up of subtidal sand and subtidal course sediment, both of which are also protected features of the MCZ. Further to this, Zone 2 is also potential habitat for Ross Worm reef (for which the conservation objective is ‘recover’).

We understand that the IFCA needs to balance the socio-economic interests of the area with the conservation objectives, however space for nature should be prioritised within protected areas.

Can I get Involved?

This is a public consultation, so anyone can respond. Comments, objections and approvals on the proposed byelaw must be made in writing by Friday 19th April 2024. Further information on how to respond can be found here.

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Valentina Scarponi:

    I agree with IFCA’s proposal

    12 Apr 2024 13:20:00

  • Rev Fran Childs:

    The Sussex Wildlife Trust is right in asking for Zone 2 to be fully-protected from bottom-fishing. The marine ecosystem is fragile along the coast.

    14 Apr 2024 16:32:00

  • Jenny Bourne:

    I fully support the proposals from Sussex Wildlife Trust; our national marine environment is an invaluable and irreplaceable resource, necessitating full protection and appropriate management.

    20 Apr 2024 10:25:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782711238.09480 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782711238.14120.0463Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782711238.14130.0002Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782711238.14140Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782711238.14140Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/beachy-head-east-marine-conservation-zone-consultation
    [s] => beachy-head-east-marine-conservation-zone-consultation
    [1] => beachy-head-east-marine-conservation-zone-consultation
)
1782711238.14170.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782711238.14260.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782711238.14420.0016 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782711238.14490.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782711238.20620.0613 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22406023
1782711238.20690.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22406023
1782711238.20780.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-29 05:33:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-29 05:33:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782711238.20930.0015 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='beachy-head-east-marine-conservation-zone-consultation')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 05:33:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782711238.21490.0056 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782711238.21560.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3356 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 05:33:00'
1782711238.21650.0009 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782711238.21730.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782711238.21810.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=196 LIMIT 1
1782711238.21870.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=44 LIMIT 1
1782711238.21930.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782711238.21950.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782711238.22030.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 05:33:00' AND postSlug='beachy-head-east-marine-conservation-zone-consultation'
1782711238.24260.0222Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782711238.2430.0004 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782711238.24460.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782711238.24490.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782711238.24560.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782711238.2470.0014 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782711238.250.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782711238.25060.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782711238.25270.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782711238.25270 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782711238.25350.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782711238.25410.0006 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782711238.25670.0026 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782711238.25770.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782711238.25840.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782711238.26110.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782711238.26210.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782711238.2640.0019 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782711238.26440.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782711238.26460.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782711238.26530.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782711238.26570.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='beachy-head-east-marine-conservation-zone-consultation')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 05:33:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782711238.26770.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782711238.26810.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782711238.27140.0032Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782711238.27220.0009 [3] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3356 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782711238.32580.0536 [3] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782711238.32690.0011Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782711238.32720.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782711238.3280.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782711238.32860.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782711238.32920.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782711238.33120.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782711238.33170.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782711238.33350.0018 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782711238.33490.0014 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782711238.33550.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782711238.33590.0004 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782711238.33840.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782711238.33890.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782711238.34080.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782711238.34360.0028 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782711238.34430.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782711238.34470.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782711238.3470.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782711238.34740.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782711238.34930.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782711238.35170.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782711238.35230.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782711238.35270.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782711238.35470.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782711238.35510.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782711238.35690.0017 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782711238.35810.0013Request time: 0.2663
1782711238.35820Process time: 0.2662
1782711238.35820Memory: 1.6242