Kelp Recovery: 4 Years Update from SWT.

I have written about this subject before, eg blog, but have just received an email from the Sussex Wildlife Trust reminding me of the "UK’s largest marine rewilding initiative, Sussex Kelp Recovery Project (SKRP), marking the four-year anniversary of the project and the introduction of the Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw. The milestone comes as SKRP researchers report encouraging signs of recovery, including increased marine life [Black Sea Bream in image above, from the website] and changes to life on the seabed along the Sussex coastline." For further information about this welcome update go to the Sussex Wildlife Trust's website. Good news!

Nature recovery in action!

I have been contacted again by Sussex Wildlife Trust to inform me that it’s now been "over three years since a 300km2 area of Sussex seabed was protected from bottom trawling and signs of recovery are starting to be seen. Black Sea Bream and (large) Mussel beds... have been sighted in this protected area, demonstrating nature recovery in action. At the start of the century, 96% of the Sussex Kelp Forest, and the marine life it supported, had disappeared, so it is truly wonderful to see the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project bringing wildlife back to Sussex" (blog).

To find out more about Kelp and Kelp Ecosystem Benefits, including providing spawning and nursery grounds, acting as a carbon conveyor, and providing a natural coastal defence, go to the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project website. Nice one!

Sussex Kelp Recovery Project

Earlier this year I wrote a blog about the Hastings Kelp Project, and I keep on receiving more information about kelp and the Sussex Coastline, most recently in the Autumn/Winter 2024 edition of the Sussex Wildlife Trust's magazine Wildlife. This pointed out that the longer running Sussex Kelp Recovery Project suggests there have been 'glimmers of hope' during the last 3 years in Sussex Coastline's kelp, including the recovery of mussel beds, a greater diversity of fish species being caught by the fishing industry, and increases in Black Sea Bream and Lobster populations (website). For more information, go to the Hastings Kelp Project website and the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project website. Good News!