Excerpt from oceanographicmagazine.com
Jersey has approved one of the most ambitious marine protection plans in the British Isles, nearly quadrupling the area of its seas protected from damaging fishing practices and positioning the Island as a leader in ocean conservation across the region.
The newly agreed Marine Protected Area (MPA) network will cover 21.7% of Jersey’s waters from 1 September this year, with a further 1.9% scheduled to come into force on 1 January 2030. The network safeguards a range of ecologically important habitats, including kelp forests, seagrass meadows, biodiverse reef systems, and fragile maerl beds – among the rarest and most sensitive marine habitats in the region.