MCS at Nature of Scotland Awards

Last night our Scottish team joined over 300 other environmental conservationists at the prestigious Nature of Scotland Awards organised by RSPB Scotland. Our Scotland Conservation Officer Catherine Gemmell swapped her wellies for heels and headed along, find out below how we got on! 

 What a night! I was kindly invited along to the Nature of Scotland Awards by Cramond Primary School who I had nominated for the Youth and Education Award for their amazing work with MCS from Beach to Parliament over the last year. I met their awesome teacher Soumya and together we headed in to meet the other inspirational finalists. 

  

My Manager Head of Conservation Scotland Calum Duncan was already there along with our partners The Glenmorangie Company and Heriot-Watt's Centre of Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology as the amazing DEEP Project  was a finalist in the Corporate Award  category for our joint  work towards returning native oysters to the Dornoch Firth. 

  

We wished everyone good luck including our friends Natalie and Sarah from Seasearch who were up for the Marine Conservation Award for their amazing work in identifying underwater places worthy of protection and needing recovered as well as our Sea Champion Lindsay with PwC who were up for an Award for their Environmental Volunteering which includes MCS Beach Cleans!  

  

First up was the Corporate Award where we were delighted to see PwC win a Highly Commended Award  followed by the winners who were.....MCS along with Glenmorangie and Heriot-Watt for the incredible DEEP project! It was fantastic to see Calum, Bill from Heriot-Watt and Peter and Anette from Glenmorangie head up on stage with the team to collect this extremely well deserved award. You can see a bit of a wobbly but very enthusiastic video of them collecting their awards here! 

  

The success then kept coming as Soumya will be taking back a Highly Commended Nature of Scotland Award for the school to celebrate the incredible amount of work they had done! The cheering and clapping from the other 300 guests was so moving and we can't wait to throw our own mini Award ceremony at the school to present the pupils with the award!  

  

A huge shout out to our friends at Fidra for winning the Marine Conservation Award for The Great Nurdle Hunt and to the Scottish Wildlife Trust for the NW Highlands Snorkel Trail in the Nature Tourism category too! 

  

I was so pleased and proud of everyone involved in all these amazing projects and it really just shows how many incredible people are out there who are changing the world to protect and save our incredible seas, beaches and wildlife. This includes you, all of our members, volunteers, supporters, partners and friends - together we can make a difference! 

  

  

  

  

Getting seaweed savvy with the Big Seaweed Search

Our South West Volunteer Manager Jules Agate has been seeing seaweeds in a new light with the Big Seaweed Search (BSS). Read on to find out all about her macro algae adventures!

Here in the South West of England we’ve really taken to the Big Seaweed Search - like blue-rayed limpets to kelp! The BSS is a partnership project for the Marine Conservation Society with the Natural History Museum (NHM). The aim of the BSS is to involve the public as a force of citizen scientists to help us to find out how the distribution of different types of seaweed, and its abundance, is changing in response to changes in the marine environment. 

The three key changes occurring in our seas that seaweeds are likely to be responding to are: 

• Rise in sea surface temperature 
• Influx of non-native species 
• Increasing acidification (from dissolved carbon dioxide) 

Despite almost encircling our coastline, with a phenomenal 650+ species in the UK, we still lack data on exactly what seaweed is growing where. This is why we absolutely need citizens to help us ‘do’ the science. There’s just so much coastline and so much seaweed to record! 

Seaweeds are important in their own right too. They create the structure and habitat that provides shelter and food for thousands of creatures like urchins, molluscs and fish. Seaweeds are crucial to commercial fisheries, are used in foods, cosmetics and medicines and play a vital role in protecting our coasts from wave action and storm damage. 

We have amazing seaweed diversity in our SW seas at the warmer end of the UK temperature spectrum, from huge strapping kelps to delicate looking coral weeds. Also there is a lot of alien invasive species growing in some SW localities, particularly Japanese Wireweed (Sargassum muticum) and Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida).

The BSS uses just 14 species (or groups of species where species level identification is difficult). The 14 are all likely to respond to environmental change and can therefore indicate to us what is happening to our seas more generally. They are also relatively easy to identify.

I became a bit of an expert last summer at rapidly picking out the 14 BSS target types from amongst the piles of those washed up on my local beach. My record is 15 min to collect samples of 9 species! I use the (carefully washed) samples I collect in displays at public shows, events and training sessions to demonstrate what the BSS is all about, and how to do it.

The beauty of the BSS is that it is very straight-forward, entailing just a 5m wide walk from the high to low shore, identifying and ticking off any of the 14 target seaweeds that you see. You’re also asked to make a rough estimate of how much is there and record some features of the shore. It is so simple that it doesn’t feel like you are doing a very big and important scientific experiment, but that’s exactly what it is; one that anybody can join, on any chosen shore (as long as there is seaweed!).

In September 2016 we ran a training session in Cornwall, very kindly organised by Simon Hocking of the National Trust, West Cornwall and his team, and lead by Prof Juliet Brodie from the NHM. This brought together over 40 people and completed three 5m surveys in the gorgeous Mounts Bay Marine Conservation Zone.The next week, I ran my own session for the Polzeath Marine Conservation Group and some more National Trust staff. 

We’ve now had more than 20 surveys uploaded in the South West and it is really taking off. It’s great to see people getting closely involved with our previously over-looked marine macro-algae (aka seaweeds!) and it definitely feels as if we’re starting to build a clearer picture of the seaweeds around our coasts – exciting!

If you’d like to get involved: Check out the Big Seaweed Search website where you can:

• Read more about the project 
• Download the guide and recording form. 
• Explore the current data 

Don’t forget to Tweet your seaweed activities using #BigSeaweedSearch to @mcsuk @NHMLondon 

Contact jules.agate@mcsuk.org if you are interested in hosting your own group survey or training in the SW and seachampions@mcsuk.org for other regions.

Further reading: Recommended guide to Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland (2nd Edition) by Bunker, Brodie, Maggs and Bunker £19.50 from the MCS shop 

Choosing sustainable seafood with chef Mike King

Do you love eating seafood but aren’t sure if what you’re eating is sustainable...

We asked chef Mike King, one of Compass Group UK & Ireland's expert culinary team, for his top tips on how to choose the best seafood. Mike is a"fish and sustainability"champion for the leading foodservice company and features in the latest Good Fish Guide video. Mike shares his passion for cooking sustainable seafood and his delicious sustainable hake, sorrel sauce and summer vegetables recipe.

What is your connection with seafood? 

I have been a professional chef for 18 years and a keen fisherman for about 25. My ideal day would be spent digging my own bait, fishing, and then returning to the kitchen with my catch to turn it into something special, knowing I have only taken what I need. I have been lucky enough to travel extensively bettering both my craft and my passion.

I live in Brighton, about 50 yards from the sea, when I am not in the kitchen or fishing at the marina you will find me on my kayak or enjoying a glass of wine on the beach with my fiancé.

What do you love about the ocean? 

As a keen fisherman & professional chef I have had a connection with the ocean since I was a boy. My love of fishing in Scotland as a kid soon merged with my love of cooking and now I pride myself on being able to get the best out of the ingredients I either catch or source responsibly.

Even in my (relatively short) lifetime I have witnessed changes in the species I used to catch, and the ease in which I used to catch them. I have travelled the world with my knife and fishing rod and am yet to visit anywhere where the locals talk about an abundance of seafood and do not refer to “the good old days”

Why is sustainable seafood important to you?

Sustainability is important to me because the sea is a finite resource, it is not as easy to gauge stock levels as it is to count cows in a field, or crops in the dirt. The oceans must be looked after not just for the benefit of all the creatures that rely on them to live, but also to guarantee future generations get to enjoy all they have to offer… from the taste of a freshly shucked oyster, or freshly caught Mackerel, to enjoying a clean beach and swim. If we do not take responsibility for our actions we will end up with a plastic sea with little life, and no one wants that.

As a chef, what are the challenges or barriers in sourcing sustainable seafood? 

The biggest challenge is knowledge and skillset. We as a nation have become disconnected from what we eat and there are a huge range of UK seasonal species that largely get ignored. Historically we think of the big 5- Tuna, Salmon, Cod, Haddock & Prawns. The MCS Good Fish Guide helps identify sustainable species and is a great tool for chefs and consumers to use when sourcing seafood.

It’s important that everyone is able to get their hands on lesser used species like Dab, Gurnard and other fish to familiarise themselves with the preparation needed to turn them into something beautiful. People can be intimidated by species they are not familiar with. It is a complicated business, as it’s not as easy as earmarking all cod as sustainable, it depends on the individual fishery and catching methods, it all boils down to education and communication, at all levels. Something that MCS is helping to make people more aware of.

What tips would you give to chefs and consumers in choosing sustainable seafood?

Always ask your supplier for seasonal, sustainable choices, and don’t be afraid to ask for guidance in preparation, or for them to help in supplying fish prepared for you. Set your boundaries and do not deviate from them. Do not buy anything on the fish to avoid list and try your hardest to use fish rated 1-3 on the MCS Good Fish Guide. Look for certification like Marine Stewardship Council for wild caught fish and Aqua Stewardship Council for farmed fish. Don’t assume something is sustainable because there is a quota for it. Buy British, Seasonal and Sustainable, and shout about it!

As a consumer, always ask where your fish is sourced from, and don’t be afraid to decline the choice should – for example- the Scallops be Dredged rather than hand dived. Yes you will pay a little more for them, but you are investing in a sustainable ocean for all to enjoy in the years to come.

Try Mike King’s scrumptious sustainable hake, sorrel sauce & summer vegetables recipe here 

We have got the bottle! Deposit return system on the way for Scotland

Buoyed by today's announcement in Scottish Parliament, MCS Scotland Conservation Officer Catherine Gemmell describes what it has been like on the campaign trail for a deposit return system, and her thoughts on what needs to happen now for it to be a success.

"It was on my second day working for MCS that I introduced to the idea of a deposit return system at a Call for Evidence event being held at Heriot Watt University. I bought a can from their cafe and when finished its contents I popped the can into the reverse vending machine. I got a credit note for 10p - I was sold!

"Straight away I could see the benefits for our oceans, our beaches and our society. Giving people an incentive to recycle is a fantastic idea to increase the amount of cans and bottles being recycled which would also mean less being littered on our beaches and entering our oceans.

"I was convinced, now it was time to convince the Scottish Government that this would be the best next step after their success with the 5p carrier bag charge. And so began two and a half years of campaigning for me, adding to more than a decade of work by MCS and our partners to bring about change for good.

"We've put on lots of thought-provoking, outside-the-box ways to make the issue clear, all with the serious aim of improving pollution levels on our coastlines. With the hashtag #wildbottlesighting any littered or ‘wild’ bottles spotted could be photographed and posted to social media - our  map shows these #wildbottlesightings are not just at the coast but also in parks, streets and rivers.

"Together with our partners in the Have You Got The Bottle coalition, we invited MSPs to a Parliamentary event with a label on bottles found on a local Edinburgh beach! And we took pupils from Cramond Primary School, with a jellyfish made out of plastic bottles, to talk with MSPs - they expertly answered questions on Deposit Return Systems and described why they think it would be good for Scotland.

"We were delighted before the summer when Roseanna Cunningham announced that the Scottish Government were going to be commissioning system design - and now we hear First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announce today that Scotland will be implementing a deposit return system as part of 'Scotland's Programme for Government 2017-18' - we are absolutely ecstatic!

"We'll need to make sure that Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Government design the system specifically for Scotland's needs, taking into account current recycling methods, small busisnesses and rural communities. We hope to see a big decrease in numbers of #wildbottlesighting reports in future.

"As we all know the sea knows no boundaries so the challenge has been set - Scotland has the bottle - what about the rest of the UK?"

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Anglesey beachcleaning and our new GBBC coordinator

This year the Great British Beach Clean (GBBC) is coordinated by our Beach and River Clean Project Officer, Lizzie Prior. Lizzie shares her beach-cleaning experience, provides her insight into the timing of GBBC and the importance of the litter data collected at Anglesey.  

My first beach clean was probably a little more unusual than most. For one I was in the Philippines but two, I was actually leading it! Trying to write a poster in a different language  was a little challenging, but I would never forget the enthusiasm I received from the local community.  They were shocked to hear that it's an estimated, 75 years for a crisp wrapper, 500 years for a nappy and 450-1000 years for a plastic bottle to break down.

The inland litter can still make it to our coastline, by entering either a stream, river or canal. It all leads to the ocean and washing up on our beaches. Litter can be incredibly harmful to our marine wildlife, from entanglement to ingestion. Once plastic is in their stomach it will never break down and the animal starves as food cannot be consumed easily.

We wanted to do something about this issue. First, to remove the direct threat litter poses to marine wildlife by removing it from our beaches, but to also understand the extent of the issue and what types of litter we were finding. This was the birth of Beachwatch!

It started in 1994, but with just a small team we knew we needed passionate members of the public to help record what litter items are being found around our coastline. Over that time volunteers from around the UK have gone to their local beach and surveyed every man-made item they found. The extensive data that has collected over the years has allowed us to safeguard our marine environment from litter. We campaigned for the 5p bag levy when our data showed more and more plastic bags being found on our beaches. Since this was introduced in Wales we have seen a 22% drop of plastic bags on our beaches and from 2015-2016 we saw a 40% drop in plastic bags across the UK! 

This is fantastic news and just goes to show that with everyone making small changes in their day-to-day, can have a real positive influence on our marine environment. Beachwatch is all about a long term solution that we are striving for, to prevent litter from reaching the environment in the first place.

These beachwatch litter surveys take place throughout the year, but we also have a huge beach cleaning weekend every 3^rd weekend of September. We call this the Great British Beach Clean.

This year it runs from Friday 15^th - Monday 18^th September and will see almost 400 beach cleans take place across the UK with valuable litter data being collected. We chose this weekend because it falls on an even bigger event, the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC). This was set up by the American Charity, Ocean Conservancy. Over this weekend over 100 countries take part in a beach clean and litter survey and submit their findings to Ocean Conservancy who analyse all the results and write a report on what was found. Our Great British Beach Clean is the UK's entry into this global trash tally.  Find last years report at: http://bit.ly/2rKZFa8 .

© John Archer-Thomson

In 2016, from GBBC we found that there was, on average, 649 items of litter found per 100m of beach surveyed across the entire UK. Wales was just below this at 607 litter items per 100m. We have Beachwatch organisers in Angelsey, one area in particular is collecting data that not only feeds into our National database, but also into in to a European one. This data is used for our Government to monitor litter levels throughout the UK. Under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, all EU states must monitor their littler levels and our Beachwatch programme helps provide the information the UK needs.

We have a few cleans that take place over the Great British Beach Clean weekend in Angelsey, but we would love more to really get a picture of litter levels in this area. It's a great event to be a part of where you can head down to your local beach, meet like minded people whilst also contributing to a Nationwide data collection programme that has real benefits to protecting our marine environment. If you wish to become an organiser or take part in a event please check out our website at: www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch/greatbritishbeachclean

We hope to see you on the beach soon! 

Plastic - In Our Seas and In Our Bodies: Sea Dragon 4 days to go Heading down to Plymouth ...

Sea Dragon

4 days to go
Heading down to Plymouth on Sunday
We go aboard at 10am on Monday and sail and 5pm
Remember to sign up to receive my blog in your email.
I will post whenever we have WiFi, describing our adventures and what we are finding.

I visited the head office of the UK Marine Conservation Society last week.  They will be posting my blogs on their FB and Twitter feeds and when we get back I will be writing an article for the Spring edition of their magazine.  

Tomorrow I am visiting a local plastic card manufacture; I have approached all the local plastic manufacturers and I'm delighted that this one has invited me to come and talk about the trip.

I did a talk/workshop while I was away which was well met, and people discussed what they could do both in their personal lives to reduce their plastic use, and litter picking in their local environment to prevent more plastic being washed down storm drains into the sea. 

I've started my final assignment for the Netherlands Open University Micro plastic course, wish me luck, needs finishing by Saturday.

BTW I have so far raised about 2.5K towards my fare, thank you again to everyone who has supported me through my crowdfunding page (which is still open and able to receive, link below), given me personal donations, and/or bought my plastic crafts and art cards.

www.gofundme.com/plasticseas

This post has been contributed by Deborah Maw - read her full expedition blog at http://exxpeditionuk2017.blogspot.co.uk/2017/

Source Fish Responsibly with the Sustainable Restaurant Association

With UK waters brimming with fabulous seafood in the summer months, there could be no better time for restaurants to be sourcing and serving the most delicious fish. From the UK’s 10,000+ chippies which serve a staggering 380m portions of fish and chips, right through to fine dining restaurants dishing up the most luxurious shellfish, every eatery in the land can play its part in ensuring a healthy future for our oceans.

That’s why throughout July, the Sustainable Restaurant Association is running a month long campaign calling on the whole foodservice sector to serve responsibly sourced seafood. And because this can be a very complex and sometimes controversial topic we’ve joined forces with all of the major expert organisations as well as spoken to some of the finest exponents of sustainable seafood menus.

The statistics make grim reading, what with 90% of the world's fish stocks either fully or overexploited and marine populations having halved since the 1970s. But, as they say, yesterday’s news quickly becomes tomorrow’s fish and chip paper and is easily forgotten. Tell people enough bad news and the temptation is to stop listening. Offer some hope and achievable solutions and you start to change the landscape.

As a major first step on the road to a healthier future for our fish stocks, we’re asking all foodservice operators to remove the worst – all fish rated ‘5’ by the MCS.

We’ve also combined with the MCS and their counterparts at Marine Stewardship Council, Fish2Fork, Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Sustainable Fish Cities, Soil Association and Freedom Food to create an easy-to-use toolkit. It’s designed to make what can be a complex subject not just manageable, but also easy to navigate and implement.

In addition to the expertise of all of the major organisations working in these waters, we’ve tapped into the extensive expertise of those who are serving seafood on a daily basis – from across the spectrum, high street to high end.

There’s huge inspiration to be taken from Jack Stein, Director of Food at Rick Stein restaurants, who, when he learned of the plight of wild sea bass, sat down with his team, including renowned chef, father Rick, and took the decision to remove a customer favourite that had been a mainstay of The Seafood Restaurant menu since the doors opened at this Cornish institution more than 40 years ago.

Caroline Bennett of Moshi Moshi shares her incredible journey from opening a sushi restaurant just so she could access Bluefin tuna 25 years ago and her Damascene experience, to today when her menu is built around a selection of line caught fish from Cornwall.

Former deckhand and Michelin Star chef Alex Aitken, has a net-full of seafood knowhow to impart from his Dorset kitchen at The Jetty. Tim Bouget explains how just along the coast in Devon customers of his small group of eateries are enjoying a mix of local, seasonal, line-caught fish and MSC certified cod and haddock.

We’ve also brought in two of Britain’s tiptop chippies, Kingfisher and The Bay for the expertise in serving sustainable seafood at scale.

Zoe Stennett-Cox, explains the challenges of balancing clients’ demands with a robust seafood sourcing policy.

Now is the time for all foodservice businesses to grab their seafood menu, log on to the Food Made Good website and prepare to share their seafood triumphs, as well as the ones that got away. Promote your restaurants commitment to sourcing sustainable seafood and ask your diners for feedback on your fish menu through Fish2Fork DinerRatings. We’d urge all to come and join the conversation on social where you can tantalise your customers with fishy tales and photos too @FoodMadeGood #GoodFishGoodDish.

Tom Tanner, Sustainable Restaurant Association