0:00:07 > 0:00:12The sea - the lifeblood of our island nation.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Some 10,000 species are known to live in British waters.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Yet this undersea world is endangered
0:00:18 > 0:00:22from our indifference and exploitation.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Tonight, I'll find out why seahorses are under threat.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27Nobody has done a single thing
0:00:27 > 0:00:30to protect seahorses in the wild, under water.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Why fishermen feel aggrieved.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38We are just seen to be rapists and pillagers of the sea
0:00:38 > 0:00:39and that's not the case.
0:00:39 > 0:00:46And look at how our ocean inhabitants might be protected in the future.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49If I'm honest with you our record when it comes to marine conservation
0:00:49 > 0:00:50is pretty patchy.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Perhaps that's because for the likes of you and I,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55it's out of sight out of mind.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58So, join me because I'm on a quest
0:00:58 > 0:01:02to find out what the future actually holds for our marine creatures.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07I'm on a quest to find out the truth about wildlife.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43Grey skies, a biting wind, it's the great British seaside,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45the closest most of us get to the salty stuff.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Here on the beach near Brighton the rocks are rich
0:01:49 > 0:01:53with unlikely seaside stars. Limpets.
0:01:53 > 0:01:54I know they don't look much
0:01:54 > 0:02:00but they do play a valuable role in the ecosystem on this shore.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02These animals are grazers.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06If you like, they are the sheep of the shore.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09At the moment they are resting on the rock here in this shelter
0:02:09 > 0:02:12but when tide comes in they'll become active
0:02:12 > 0:02:16and they will roam, yes, roam, all over the surface of this rock
0:02:16 > 0:02:18eating the algae that grows on it.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22And, the only reason that this rock is clear of algae
0:02:22 > 0:02:24is a bit of wave and wear and tear,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28but also because it's been scoured by these limpets.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33So without limpets the balance of life on this shore
0:02:33 > 0:02:35could easily be turned upside down.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Believe it or not, the Portuguese love eating them
0:02:39 > 0:02:43and I'm joining Mario and John for breakfast.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48These limpets didn't get eaten and they're still alive
0:02:48 > 0:02:54and the naturalist in me says, "I've got to save them."
0:03:00 > 0:03:01My good deed for the day.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06- Are they done then?- Yep! All done.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09That'll be good, will it?
0:03:13 > 0:03:17You may be wondering what eating limpets has got to do with conservation.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19That's superb.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22It's really, really tasty.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27I feel a bit of a traitor saying that, though.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30I'm eating the cast!
0:03:34 > 0:03:38So, if a few people come along the shore here and collect a few limpets
0:03:38 > 0:03:42it's a bit like us going out on a summer's afternoon and picking a few blackberries.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46But if hordes of people were to come and completely denude the beach
0:03:46 > 0:03:48it would be a catastrophe.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53That over-harvesting might not be happening here, on shore,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56but it's certainly happening out there at sea.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03This is a scallop dredge at work.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09These pictures from a research video show how the teeth of the trawl
0:04:09 > 0:04:10rake along the seabed.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Everything, everything, including starfish,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17is churned up as the dredge speeds over the boulders.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19It's relentless.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Eventually the seabed gets so worn it looks like this.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28This is a reef off Lyme Bay on the Dorset coast.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Rare, slow-growing pink sea fans lie broken.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36These pictures helped convince the Government
0:04:36 > 0:04:39to ban scallop dredging from 60 square miles here,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41but it took 16 years to get that ban.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Lyme Bay was the forerunner of what's happening now.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50A new network of marine conservation zones will ring Britain's coast.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Some zones may restrict fishing or ban it outright.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56How do fishermen feel about this?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Morning!
0:04:59 > 0:05:00How are you?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03- Fine, yourself? - Well, I'm all right at the moment.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09'I'm taking to a South Devon scallop boat to find out.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12'Dave Hurford has been fishing all his life.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16'Seven months of the year it's sprats, the rest, scallops.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19'The Lyme Bay closure still rankles.'
0:05:22 > 0:05:25How aggrieved were the fishermen?
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- Are they really bitter about it? - I think they are.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31They've closed 60 square miles of ground off,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35but a lot of that ground still could be fished quite easily.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39And, not doing any harm to anything.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Why don't you trust the fishery scientists, the conservationists?
0:05:43 > 0:05:46I think that the scientists... I don't believe the scientists, no,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49because the scientists get it wrong with the fish quotas.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55There are species of fish which are much more abundant than they were years ago
0:05:55 > 0:05:58and they're being dumped back into the sea.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00It's a total waste of a resource.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04I would argue, that's paperwork, that's bureaucracy,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08- that's European regulation.- Yeah. - It's not fish science.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13I would argue that the fish science has got to a point of understanding
0:06:13 > 0:06:15where we know we have to protect the stocks
0:06:15 > 0:06:19to give you guys a sustainable future and keep the seas
0:06:19 > 0:06:20rich enough to function.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25We want to see a sustainable stock of fish of all species
0:06:25 > 0:06:27for years to come, of course we do,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31but there's lots of areas that are already closed off,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35like the crabbing areas. All that is breeding ground for fish.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Scallops are fast breeders with no quota,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43so more fishermen are going after them.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53When the scallop grows it produces these rings on its shell.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56You can see there's a pale one here.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59We used to think these equated to annual growth rings,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01like those we find on trees.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03It may or may not be the case,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07these are clearly periods where the animals are growing more quickly
0:07:07 > 0:07:10because it's finding a lot more food.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And these can live up to 20 years.
0:07:12 > 0:07:1520 years, you wouldn't think it, would you?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17That is, of course, unless they get caught.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26There doesn't seem to be a lot of stuff in here that isn't scallops.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31No, the odd swimmer crab and the odd starfish,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35nothing of any consequence. The ones that are undersized, below 100ml go straight back.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Anything that looks a little bit dodgy, will be measured.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Anything that's not big enough will go back in.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Fishermen are involved in drawing up the map of these conservation zones
0:07:46 > 0:07:51but Dave feels that no-one's really listening to them.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55- Are you being bullied?- You are.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58At the end of the day all of this has been decided behind closed doors.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03Everybody can bleat all they like, it's going to happen and that's that.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08Let's hope not all our fishermen friends are quite so gloomy.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20To be honest with you, Lyme Bay has become a bit of a cause celebre
0:08:20 > 0:08:22in the conservation world on account of
0:08:22 > 0:08:24all of the animosity and bickering
0:08:24 > 0:08:28we had to go through to get the ban in place.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30So the big question is, of course,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33has it actually paid off - has it worked?
0:08:35 > 0:08:40The reefs are being monitored by Plymouth University researchers.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Two years on from the ban, this reef outside the closed area
0:08:43 > 0:08:48is still being fished and the seabed is bare.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50There's little sign of any life.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Inside, where the dredging's stopped, it's different.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Look, wonderful sponges colonising the seabed,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01a hungry crab is lured in by mackerel in the bait box
0:09:01 > 0:09:04and there's a pink sea fan growing.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21We have to say that's encouraging,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23there are definitely signs of recovery there.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28It's only through monitoring sites like this where fishing has been restricted
0:09:28 > 0:09:34that we could then argue the case to create areas where there's absolutely no fishing at all.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37What we are going to call, "no take zones."
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Well, at the moment, there are only two "no take zones"
0:09:44 > 0:09:46in all of the English waters
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and I'm off to see how the oldest one, Lundy Island, is doing.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52This granite outpost in the Bristol Channel
0:09:52 > 0:09:56has been a marine nature reserve for 25 years.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Eight years ago, lobster potting and all other fishing,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02was banned from the east coast of the island.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05There's a carnival of life going on down there,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09but let's not get too carried away.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Here we are on a misty morning but let's be clear from the start
0:10:14 > 0:10:15we haven't come here to celebrate
0:10:15 > 0:10:19a great British marine conservation success
0:10:19 > 0:10:23because sadly the protected area is insignificantly small.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26But it is tremendously valuable,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29it has given us the opportunity to measure scientifically
0:10:29 > 0:10:32the benefits of this "no take zone."
0:10:32 > 0:10:39Monitoring over four years here showed a five-fold increase in lobster numbers.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44but the scientist in charge says he saw little change in other species.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Part of the reason for the "no take zone" being set up
0:10:46 > 0:10:49was a concern that the potting activity
0:10:49 > 0:10:52was damaging other species of conservation importance
0:10:52 > 0:10:56like pink sea fans and sponges and other soft corals
0:10:56 > 0:10:59but we didn't find any evidence in the short period
0:10:59 > 0:11:02that we were studying it that they were recovering.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05But I have to say some of these effects of "no take zones"
0:11:05 > 0:11:08can take 20 to 30 years to emerge.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13We wouldn't expect some of these benefits to be instantly obvious.
0:11:13 > 0:11:19That seems to make sense and, in fact, there's been no monitoring here for three years,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22so our divers are going to see what they can find.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Cold damp, wet, that's the divers.
0:11:34 > 0:11:40Warm tea, relatively warm clothes, comfortable on deck, that's me.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42'We've got a lobster.'
0:11:42 > 0:11:46See what you can get some shots of and I'll look forward to seeing it.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Will do.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Meanwhile, we'll put the kettle on.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59Despite my sarcasm, I'm itching to see what the divers have found down there.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Does this look like a rich, marine environment because it's a "no take zone"?
0:12:05 > 0:12:09There's definitely more life in a concentrated area
0:12:09 > 0:12:11than where I live out of Plymouth.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13That was really good for me to see.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Look, guys, I know it was tough down there. It is March, not September.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24It was a bit silty but we can see there is a richness of life.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29Yeah, there's lots of life coming on all the rock.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33That's a pink sea fan, which are very fragile and prone to damage.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38Looking under the nooks and crannies is where you'll find your shellfish.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41There's a little, juvenile, nosey lobster at this point.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Yeah, yeah.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45OK, next up.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47- This was a bigger fella.- Oh, yeah.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50A little bit more playful, this one. Hopefully he'll give us a turn.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54He's probably about nine inches down the carapace.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56It's really nice to see a good variety of sizes.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00They're obviously growing and sticking in the environment.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03It's coming out a treat. Look at that.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06- Beautiful thing. - A lovely blue colour in this one.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08A nice orange antennae.
0:13:08 > 0:13:09Blue legs.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I know a lot of you at home are thinking,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16"You know, what is this? You're showing us a lobster, this isn't sexy wildlife."
0:13:16 > 0:13:18People come to Lundy to see puffins.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21This is a fantastic animal, I have to say.
0:13:24 > 0:13:30Lundy's seabeds are thriving, but getting a "no take zone" was an easy win,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32it was already a marine nature reserve.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36It won't be as easy where many more competing interests clash
0:13:36 > 0:13:39and more jobs are at stake.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43The only way you can resolve those debates is by doing these studies.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48It would be helpful to have more, it would take out a lot of the heat.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51A lot of it comes down to money, funding from Government.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54But also having people in the Government agencies
0:13:54 > 0:14:00that are scientifically minded, that they are aware that the decisions that designate these things
0:14:00 > 0:14:04shouldn't be the end point of management, it should be the starting point
0:14:04 > 0:14:08for science to evaluate the effects of the management.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21The seas are undeniably rich
0:14:21 > 0:14:27but if you add this to the UK's only other "no take zone"
0:14:27 > 0:14:31they add up to less than seven square kilometres.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33A mere drop in Britain's oceans.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38Surely there has to be a middle ground between somewhere that's totally protected
0:14:38 > 0:14:40and somewhere that's ravaged.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45Hopefully it's going to be these marine conservations zones that we've been talking about.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48There should be a whole ring of them appearing around the UK.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52I'm off to a place that might be one of the first.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01This is the beautiful Studland Bay in Dorset's Isle of Purbeck.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07The water here is home to one of the country's most enigmatic
0:15:07 > 0:15:11and delightful creatures, the spiny seahorse.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17Given that they are such pin-up stars when it comes to marine creatures
0:15:17 > 0:15:19you'd think looking after them was relatively easy.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23But no. In fact, it's caused a right old controversy.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31Surprisingly, for a fish, seahorses aren't very good swimmers.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35They hang out in eel grass beds for something to hang on to
0:15:35 > 0:15:39and it's here that they find their food.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44Seahorses are protected by law, just like dormice or bats.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47You harm one of these at your peril.
0:15:50 > 0:15:56Yet here, seahorses are under constant threat.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58It looks like the Caribbean,
0:15:58 > 0:16:00just doesn't feel like it.
0:16:00 > 0:16:06The seahorses knights in shiny black neoprene are Neil Garrick Maidment of the Seahorse Trust,
0:16:06 > 0:16:07and campaigner Steve Trewhella.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12What a strange couple of creatures I've discovered here.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Morning Neil, Steve.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15Nice to see you, as ever.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20- Any seahorses?- Not yet, but hopefully later on if we do another dive.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24You say, "hopefully" but what number of animals are we talking about here?
0:16:24 > 0:16:28On this site, probably a maximum of about 40 animals a year
0:16:28 > 0:16:31which is a tiny population on such an amazing site.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34- You mean 40 seahorses in total?- Yeah. - Throughout the course of the year?
0:16:34 > 0:16:39This site should actually have four times that amount of animals on it.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43That's a very fragile population. It takes one little oil spill,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46- one storm and it could wipe the whole lot out.- Yeah.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Is it habitat that's limiting the expansion of the species here?
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Not at all, it's actually man problems again.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59It's anchoring and mooring damage that's destroying the sea bed and the sea grass that the seahorses live in.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01That's why the numbers are low here.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05- That's not the case here? - No, we're actually on sand here.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09We have to go a little bit out. We'll get on a boat and toodle on out
0:17:09 > 0:17:12- and show you what we're doing. - Let's go and take a look.- OK.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Steve's going underwater to find evidence of the damage these heavy mooring chains are doing.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32It's illegal to disturb the place of shelter of a seahorse.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35So, the sea grass bed here is being disturbed
0:17:35 > 0:17:38so it's actually disturbing the site of a protected species.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46- What's it like?- There's a big wear mark underneath the boat.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- It's damaged?- Really damaged, yeah.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52The chain goes around like the hands on a clock with the tide.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56It'll slap the seabed every time it goes round with the tide.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59It doesn't spare anything. It goes around in a big circle.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Why aren't the agencies that are responsible sorting it out?
0:18:02 > 0:18:05It seems to have been going on for three, four, five years?
0:18:05 > 0:18:09It's been going on every since the seahorses were protected on 6th April 2008.
0:18:09 > 0:18:15Nobody has done a single thing to protect seahorses, in the wild, under water.
0:18:15 > 0:18:21As if to prove the point, whilst we've been filming, a yacht has turned up and moored here
0:18:21 > 0:18:24and this is within the sea grass area.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27It's happening on a daily basis, even not in the peak of the season.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32I suppose the skipper might argue he doesn't know the damage he's doing
0:18:32 > 0:18:37and then we might say, "It's the conservationists' fault for not telling him".
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Frankly, he shouldn't be able to moor here in the first place.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Many boat owners don't believe the moorings cause damage,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47so a small voluntary, no-anchor zone is testing this.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Will a new conservation zone help? Steve's not optimistic.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54We already have laws in place that aren't working.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56Why should we believe the new ones will?
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Many meetings later, will we have protection in place? It's unlikely.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04If we can't get it right here, we're not going to get it right at all.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07It is possible to get it right without a shadow of a doubt.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13If only everyone was as passionate, then this problem would be solved.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15This is a rare and wonderful creature
0:19:15 > 0:19:19which could so easily be better protected.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23But it's one small example of out of sight, out of mind.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Where I'm going next, there's a battle on a far bigger scale
0:19:27 > 0:19:31at one of Europe's biggest harbours in Cornwall.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34So, look, we are beginning to understand that many interests,
0:19:34 > 0:19:39fishing, obviously, leisure as well, are coming into conflict with the aims of conservation
0:19:39 > 0:19:41as it stands at the moment.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46But occasionally individual development proposals can be difficult to reconcile
0:19:46 > 0:19:49and there's one here in Falmouth.
0:19:49 > 0:19:56A multi, multi-million-pound project to dredge and improve the port
0:19:56 > 0:19:59for the alleged future prosperity of the entire town and region
0:19:59 > 0:20:03and it's on hold, down to this.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Algae. I know what you're thinking.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08This doesn't look it's best. It's dead.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13But beneath me there's a living carpet of this algae,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16called maerl. It's like a tropical coral reef
0:20:16 > 0:20:20and the bay here is the largest UK outpost,
0:20:20 > 0:20:25a nursery for a huge variety of animals and plants.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Maerl is also protected by European law
0:20:31 > 0:20:34but even so, scallop fishing continued here
0:20:34 > 0:20:39until the Marine Conservation Society stepped in to stop it.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45This is a special area of conservation, so why wasn't it being protected?
0:20:45 > 0:20:49That's one of the first questions. We've got the designation.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51I'd have to say there's a weakness in the regulators,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54the people who are officially tasked with managing,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56potentially damaging activities
0:20:56 > 0:21:02and damaging activities like scallop dredging that was occurring here until 2007/08.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05We had to step in as a third party in an office in Ross-on-Wye
0:21:05 > 0:21:08to manage an activity which was clearly damaging in Cornwall
0:21:08 > 0:21:11because the local regulators didn't want to touch it.
0:21:11 > 0:21:12That is outrageous.
0:21:12 > 0:21:18The Marine Conservation Society is now lobbying for 30% of our coastal waters
0:21:18 > 0:21:20to be closed to all fishing.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23But they're nowhere near winning that argument.
0:21:23 > 0:21:31We feel that not more than 0.5% of our waters will be no take.
0:21:31 > 0:21:360.5% of the UK's waters could become no take?
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Maybe 1%.
0:21:39 > 0:21:46OK, to achieve that, then, I would argue we need far greater public support.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48You need the public behind you
0:21:48 > 0:21:53so you can go and say, this is what people want.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Yeah, and we need them to be frustrated and angry
0:21:56 > 0:21:58about the current state of affairs.
0:21:58 > 0:22:04We are destroying a renewable resource that we could have on our plates for eternity.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10It's just bad management. We do need angry people out there.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Can you be frustrated and angry?
0:22:13 > 0:22:17Hearing all of this I can do it really easily.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19God...
0:22:20 > 0:22:24I was soothed, though, by the surprise arrival of Miles Hoskin,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28our Lundy lobster expert, with a real treat.
0:22:30 > 0:22:31Thank you.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35So this is the stuff, Jean Luc, that we're talking about.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39You can imagine how wonderful that is for critters to live in,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41molluscs, snails, shrimps,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44tiny crabs, all these are food for a multitude of species
0:22:44 > 0:22:47and fantastic for recruitment and life.
0:22:47 > 0:22:53Once neglected, now protected, I'm very pleased to see the little guy,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57the thing at the bottom of the food chain has got the protection that it needs,
0:22:57 > 0:23:02not only here, but in European terms and if we can look after little things like this
0:23:02 > 0:23:05then our ambition for more glamorous species
0:23:05 > 0:23:09at the top of the food chain might be realised as well.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Miles, what can I say, it's best delivery I've ever had.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14It was phenomenal!
0:23:14 > 0:23:16I'll be talking about it for years.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Thank you very much, indeed. Cheers!
0:23:21 > 0:23:25And our glamour guys are, of course, dolphins.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Curious, intelligent, beautiful, dolphins delight us all.
0:23:29 > 0:23:36They're a real T-shirt animal and without dolphins, we would be very much poorer.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40And, sadly, today I am without dolphins.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43In five hours at sea I've seen nothing but gulls.
0:23:43 > 0:23:50The thing is we're looking for a few slippery needles in a giant, wet haystack.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54The population of these animals in the Channel is so low.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57And yet 100, 150 years ago,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02this place would have had lots and lots of dolphins.
0:24:02 > 0:24:03But not today.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10While the new protected areas will stretch 200 miles out into international waters,
0:24:10 > 0:24:15where the dolphins live, they won't be specifically protected,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19nor will our seabirds, or the fish that we eat.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Instead, the aim is to create a coherent network
0:24:22 > 0:24:27of nationally important habitats.
0:24:27 > 0:24:34For this to work, to get populations of creatures like dolphins back to the levels that we might aspire to,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39we need a healthy marine ecosystem, and to get that,
0:24:39 > 0:24:45we need effective, well-thought-out, marine conservation.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51This is the sharp end, tomorrow this'll be on your plate.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55To some, this bounty is evidence of heedless exploitation.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58To others, it's proof there's still plenty of fish in the sea.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Here they are look, Dave's scallops,
0:25:03 > 0:25:09and there are ten dozen in every box and I've counted 49 boxes.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11He'll be hoping for a good price, of course.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Conservationists and fishermen say they want the same thing,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19sustainable fish stocks and a thriving business.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23But as industry negotiator Nick Prust tells me,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27the Lyme Bay ban created suspicion and this doesn't bode well
0:25:27 > 0:25:29when it comes to the new marine conservation zones.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34We're just seen to be
0:25:34 > 0:25:37rapists and pillagers of the sea and that's not the case.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42There are some 21 zones to my knowledge
0:25:42 > 0:25:45from Poole to Milford Haven.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47They're crazy.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48They're not required.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54There's no reasoning, no scientific reasoning for those areas to be put in.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58If there are put in and "no take zones" are designated within them,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01do you think the fishermen will respect those?
0:26:01 > 0:26:03I don't know.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07I think we've got to work to try to get them stopped.
0:26:08 > 0:26:14The minister who's balancing all the competing interests admits, inevitably, there will be losers.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17He says that fishermen need to look to the future.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21If they're constantly battered and beaten into a corner,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24then what we're trying to do will lack credibility.
0:26:24 > 0:26:25We've got to work with them.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Yes, we've got to enforce them. We've got the means of doing that.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32They have to part of the solution.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Then they will work with conservationists and government
0:26:36 > 0:26:40to make sure what we're trying to protect is protected.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45That's important because then their children and grandchildren will be able to carry on fishing.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49I want to create is a sustainable future for them
0:26:49 > 0:26:53because we've got a sustainable ecosystem in the sea
0:26:53 > 0:26:54where they operate.
0:26:54 > 0:27:00So, at the end of my quest, are my hopes raised, or on the rocks?
0:27:00 > 0:27:05It might surprise you but I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for those fishermen.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08They've been at the rough end of a rusty stick for a long time
0:27:08 > 0:27:14and when they accuse certain conservationists of being a bit arrogant, self righteous,
0:27:14 > 0:27:20well, I can sympathise there, too, because I see that sadly in some aspects of conservation.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Come on, guys, this is not the time for finger wagging
0:27:23 > 0:27:26when it comes to peoples' livelihoods.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29You night expect my sympathy to run a bit thin
0:27:29 > 0:27:33when fishermen clearly have no understanding of ecosystems
0:27:33 > 0:27:36of the real marine environment
0:27:36 > 0:27:38but I could still turn that back to us
0:27:38 > 0:27:41and say that we haven't done our job to educate them,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45and I'm not being patronising, as to how it actually works.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Where my sympathy runs thin, though, is with those leisure users
0:27:48 > 0:27:51because livelihoods aren't at stake there.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53That's about a G&T on a Sunday afternoon.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56So, come on, let's sort it out for the seahorses.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01Ultimately, am I optimistic or pessimistic?
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Well, true, we've got our new MCZs just over the horizon
0:28:05 > 0:28:10but will they be properly monitored, properly regulated?
0:28:10 > 0:28:12I've got my doubts.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Beyond that, I have to be optimistic
0:28:15 > 0:28:17because if we don't look after this environment,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20we ourselves will be in big trouble.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25For the moment, though, the best I can offer is this.
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