Researcher helps highlight the importance of UK’s maerl beds

Professor Jason Hall-Spencer is a member of the steering group for the newly formed UK Maerl Forum
Professor Jason Hall-Spencer is a member of the steering group for the newly formed UK Maerl Forum
Professor Jason Hall-Spencer diving off the coast of Cornwall during the first meeting of the UK Maerl Forum
A Â鶹´«Ã½ researcher is part of a new group working to promote and protect some of the marine environment’s most important, but underappreciated, habitats.
Professor Jason Hall-Spencer has been studying maerl beds for several decades, recently co-authoring a study – published in the Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Systems journal – which called for enhanced conservation measures to protect them.
As a result of this ongoing research, he was recently invited to join the steering group of the new UK Maerl Forum, which held its first meeting in April.
Bringing together partners including Natural England, Cornwall Council, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Blue Marine Foundation, the forum’s aim is to align research efforts, identify priority actions, and begin shaping a shared vision for maerl recovery.
Its inaugural meeting saw participants from across the UK, Ireland and Brittany gather in Cornwall to hear talks from UK experts, including Professor Hall-Spencer, on maerl beds of the North East Atlantic ocean basin.

I have been studying maerl beds for most of my adult life.

They can be up to 10,000 years old around the UK and are a symbol of a clean and healthy ocean, providing habitats and spawning grounds for a range of fish and shellfish. But compared to other ocean features, such as coral reefs, we know very little about them and – as a result – many are unprotected from scallop dredging or pollution. That is an obvious concern; if this new forum can bring about change, it will be a positive step.

Jason Hall-SpencerProfessor Jason Hall-Spencer
Professor of Marine Biology

As things stand, the world’s maerl beds are under threat from a variety of human activities, including towed fishing gear, commercial extraction and sewage pollution.
While some regions – including areas off the coast of Cornwall – have protection in place banning damaging activities, raised nutrient levels caused by sewage or agricultural run-off can cause algal blooms that kill the beds.
In other areas this has caused the loss of maerl habitats and, during the first forum meeting, the scientists and conservationists took part in a dive which revealed what they described as a worrying deterioration in these ancient habitats which they attributed to poor water quality.
They plan to discuss this and other issues, and to discuss how their work can be expanded in the coming months to lead the delivery of nature recovery through evidence-based standards, strategic partnerships, and targeted action.
  • Read the study – Grall and Hall-Spencer: Maerl Bed Conservation: Successes and Failures – published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Systems, DOI: .
 

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