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11th April 2022
Blue Marine Foundation Submission
Blue Marine Foundation welcomes the proposal to create a no-take zone (NTZ) in Portelet bay. Establishing a NTZ here will allow for the creation of a natural laboratory', providing students and researchers a chance to better understand the impacts of climate change on our marine environment and monitor changes for local biodiversity, fisheries and people.
NTZs cover less than one per cent of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around the world. In 2008 Lamlash Bay, on the Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland was designated. It remains just one of a handful of NTZs in the UK's domestic waters. Since it's creation, the zone has shown significant signs of recovery and is now teeming with marine life where seaweeds and species that live on the seabed have recolonised the area. This has meant that other marine species have started to recover; populations of lobsters and scallops have quadrupled within the NTZ and the area has become a haven for juvenile fish such as cod and whiting. Local residents have benefited from growth in tourism to the area: The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) Visitor Centre was built in 2018 and hosted 11,000 visitors from 2018 to 2019. As well as being one of the most successful ways to achieve species and habitat recovery, NTZs can also be utilised as control sites'. Data from surrounding areas can be compared to this, making it one of the most effective ways to understand how our marine environment responds to a changing climate in areas where direct human activity is extremely limited.
In summer 2022, Blue Marine will be launching a self-guided snorkel trail in Portelet Bay. As part of this initiative, an educational outreach programme has been developed for all primary schools in Jersey, aiming to teach young generations about the marine environment and the importance of protecting it. After advertising to all 32 primary schools, the programme was filled in a matter of hours. This shows the huge level of interest from younger generations to learn about effective environmental management and a local NTZ would be an excellent opportunity for Jersey to deliver this type of educational demand.