Month: November 2021

The Great British Beach Clean 2021 results are now available. What did the results show? During the third week of September this year, 6,176 volunteers took part in the Marine Conservation Society Great British Beach Clean. A total of 5064.8kg of litter was collected and recorded over the week by dedicated volunteers and the results… Read more »

Plans unveiled to ban single-use plastics in England. Single-use cutlery and plates could be banned in England as part of a public consultation, and call for evidence launched to tackle other problematic plastics. Single-use plastic plates, cutlery, expanded and extruded polystyrene cups and food and beverage containers could all be phased out, in the latest… Read more »

Lobsters, octopus and crabs will now be recognised as sentient beings. The scope of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill has today been extended to recognise lobsters, octopus and crabs and all other decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs as sentient beings. The move follows the findings of a government-commissioned independent review by the London School of… Read more »

Coastal Conversations Webinar – Archaeology on the Solway, at 6.30pm on Thursday 18 November 2021. The Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Solway Firth Partnership are, once again, presenting a series of webinars that focus on cross border topics such as archaeology, marine wildlife, and salt. Join us from the comfort of your… Read more »

Blue Carbon International Policy Challenge The way in which marine and coastal habitats such as saltmarshes and seagrass store carbon is to be explored and tested through a new Scottish-led initiative to help tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The Blue Carbon International Policy Challenge will make awards of £10,000 available… Read more »

Action from Scottish Government on single-use plastic. Legislation has been laid that will see Scotland ban some of the most environmentally damaging single-use plastic items, with the ban coming into effect on 1 June 2022. The ban will apply to the following single-use items: plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks), plates, straws, beverage stirrers and… Read more »

The Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2021 results are in! Results for The 2021 Great Global Nurdle Hunt have now been released and are currently being showcased to decision makers at COP26! The survey revealed the global scale of plastic pellet (nurdle) pollution – 91% of participating countries found nurdles (21 out of 23). To read… Read more »

Research into Gear in Scottish Inshore Creel Fishery is being carried out. St Andrew’s University is carrying out a research project to gather information on the use, recovery, and disposal of fishing gear within Scotland’s inshore creel fishery. To do they are asking commercial creel fishers to complete a short online survey which has been… Read more »

Scottish fisheries and climate change survey launched. The Scottish Government has launched a survey to understand how ready the Scottish fishing sector is to respond to the climate change challenge. The survey launched on Monday 1 November as part of COP26 and is open until the end of November. It will inform a workshop on… Read more »

Coastal Conversations Season Starts on the Solway. The first of the Coastal Conversations will take place at 6.30pm on Thursday 18 November and will feature – Archaeology Techniques: from Geophysics to Excavation. The speakers: Mark Graham from Grampus Heritage and Training Limited and Charlotte Douglas, Community Archaeologist with AOC Archaeology Group will provide a fascinating… Read more »