Blue Marine has achieved major campaign successes, established a model of sustainable fishing and secured commitments to protect over four million square kilometresof ocean.
In its ten-year existence, Blue Marine has achieved a huge amount of impactful ocean conservation. Here are some of our achievements:
Keyachievements
2010
Blue Marine, with support from the Bertarelli
Foundation brokered a deal to
enable the creation of what was then
the largest marine protected area
(MPA) in the world around Chagos in
the Indian Ocean.
2012
Blue Marine partnered with the
government of Belize and the Bertarelli
Foundation to protect the Turneffe Atoll
in Belize, an area rich in biodiversity
and CO2 absorbing mangroves.
2015
Blue Marine and the Great
British Oceans coalition secured a
government manifesto commitment
to create a “Blue Belt” around all 14
UK overseas territories, hailed as “the
greatest conservation commitment by
any government ever”.
2015
The Great British Oceans
coalition, of which Blue Marine is an active
part, secured a UK government
commitment to create the world’s
largest marine reserve around
Pitcairn in the Pacific.
2015
Blue Marine launched Reserve Seafood –
an innovative label to celebrate the
success of sustainable fishing in Lyme
Bay and help fishers earn more from
their catch.
2015
Blue Marine’s research on bass resulted
in EU-wide measures to protect the
stock.
2016
Blue Marine secured the creation
of a no-take zone in 52.6 per cent of
Ascension Island’s waters.
2017
As part of the Great British Oceans coalition,
secured an even stronger manifesto
commitment from the UK Government
ahead of the June 2017 election to
protect over four million square kilometres
of oceanaround the UK overseas territories.
2017
In the summer of 2017, broodstock
oysters in Blue Marine’s Solent Oyster
Restoration Project spawned, releasing
millions of larvae into the Solent.
2017 - 2018
Blue Marine spearheaded a social media
campaign to encourage the public to
tweet and email their MPs, resulting
in 285 MPs from eight political parties
signing up to the Blue Belt Charter by
the end of 2018.
2018
The UK Government announced
a target of 30 per cent of ocean
protected by 2030, aligning with
Blue Marine’s long-term strategy.
2018
Azerbaijan declared the first MPA in the
Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of
water on the planet. The new MPA will
seek to protect six significant marine
species on the brink of extinction.
2019
Blue Marine published its ground-breaking
four-year Potting Study, commissioned
by Defra, which evidences sustainable
potting levels in Lyme Bay as a model
for crab and lobster management
UK-wide.
2019
Following Blue Marine’s #StopElectricFishing
campaign, undertaken in
collaboration with Bloom Association,
the European Parliament’s Committee
on Fisheries voted to ban electric pulse
fishing in EU waters.
2019
With support from Blue Marine, 100 per cent
of the waters around Ascension Island
were designated a marine reserve,
creating the largest fully protected
marine reserve in the Atlantic, an area
nearly the size of France.
2020
Blue Marine instigated a social media campaign to encourage people in England to eat local fish in support of small-scale fishers impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.
2021
Destructive bottom trawling banned in four offshore areas, including Dogger Bank, following threat of legal action by Blue Marine.
2021
A byelaw, supported by Sir David Attenborough and Blue Marine through the Help our Kelp coalition, protected 300 square kilometres of seabed off the Sussex coast from damaging trawl fishing
2022
Ground-breaking report released, illuminating the levels of unauthorised fishing by EU vessels in Indian Ocean Coastal States’ Waters
2022
Following legal intervention by Blue Legal, the government adopted new byelaws banning bottom trawling in four offshore MPAs including the Dogger Bank SAC
2022
Blue Legal joined an appeal concerning the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station and successfully opposed EDF’s plans to proceed with the plant without appropriate mitigation or compensation measures in place for the marine environment
How tohelp
By working together, we can turn the tide on overfishing and the destruction of biodiversity. By supporting Blue Marine, you can help to create marine reserves around the world.
Donate
No matter how big or small, all donations are valuable to us.