Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog
We've had 'weather' out at sea, so again we've sought some shelter of the remote island of Fetlar. It's both reassuring to be near land when the wind's blowing, and frustrating when we can't set foot on it. I think many people on board would love to go for a nice long walk that didn't involve stairs or a handrail.
So far on this ship tour we have managed to pass through three of the areas that we have proposed as marine reserves in the North Sea. These areas have been proposed for a variety of reasons, including their biodiversity, and their importance as spawning grounds for 'commercially important' fish species. These areas are large, but we think they need to be. They need to be large to offer effective protection to a wide range of species (many of which are wide-ranging in their own habits), and to be resilient to threats like climate change.
What governments have offered by way of 'marine protected areas' to date has been either too small or too limited in scope. By the way, you'll hear many different terms, all meaning something slightly different. We stick with 'marine reserves' and define it clearly as an area off limits to all dumping and extractive human activities, including fishing.
We think they need to think bigger. It's not just about protecting a few special coral reefs, or scallop beds in as small an area as they can get away with. Our oceans deserve protection for the vast and intertwined array of species that depend on them, and that protection needs to be extensive enough in size and scope to work for all the species in the ocean's ecosystems.
So we'll be heading back out to the North Sea (weather permitting, but it looks promising) tomorrow to take our marine reserves message to where it matters - where the destruction is happening. Meanwhile you can help by making sure the minister responsible gets the message too.
But before we go, we're hoping to manage a quick school trip...
