25 August 2012
Landmark Government decision on the need for Appropriate Assessment for fishing in Marine SACs
In what is likely to be seen as a land mark decision the Government have written to Fisheries and Environmental Groups describing their new position on the need for Appropriate Assessment for fishing practices in SACs. This has come after a decade of high profile cases where scallop fishing has destroyed the sea bed habitats of at least four SACs. A legal threat by Client Earth and the Marine Conservation Society has prompted Defra to change it’s position. Until now, government officials have interpreted fishing as an existing activity which did not require an environmental assessment; it has now changed this interpretation. To read more:
