Marine forests – a story of hope
Just a few hundred metres from busy coastal areas like Worthing, Adur and Arun, a story of hope is emerging.
Historic kelp forests lost for decades are beginning to flourish, demonstrating the ocean’s ability to recover when it’s protected from destructive fishing activity such as trawling.
Kelp forms underwater forests which are some of the most productive and biodiverse habitats on the planet. In Sussex, an extensive kelp forest once stretched along more than 40km of the coastline between Shoreham and Selsey Bill.
Tragically, by the start of the 21st century, over 96 per cent of the kelp bed had disappeared with just a few small patches remaining. Having survived huge storms for centuries, the kelp didn’t return after the Great Storm of 1987, following years of trawling and other human pressures on the seabed, on which kelp depends to colonise.
Two years ago, a local fisheries management byelaw was passed, stopping the fishing method of towing trawls along the seafloor.
The Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA)’S Nearshore Trawling Byelaw now excludes trawling from 304 square kilometres of Sussex seabed.
Early signs of regeneration are positive.
Local diver Eric Smith, part of the Sussex Underwater team, said: “The kelp is holding its own and many other things are coming back, like soft and hard corals and anemones. The inshore rockpools
are teeming with life such as hermit crabs that have been almost nonexistent in the last ten years.
“I filmed the first electric ray I had seen for 40 years, and trigger fish have turned up in several spots. Also, large sting rays are back in numbers from Selsey to Worthing.
“Lobsters are coming back to their old haunts in numbers. Small bass are being filmed by people just off the beach with undulated
rays being spotted by paddle boarders 400 metres out.”
Sussex Kelp Recovery Project chair Henri Brocklebank said: “The past two years have been a rollercoaster bringing together a sophisticated programme to monitor kelp recovery, and ensuring that the recovery of the Sussex kelp is a shared ambition of many individuals and organisations.”
For more information, visit sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/ sussexkelp