Uneasy Bedfellows: Fisheries And The Search For Space For Marine Conservation Zones In English Waters

In contrast to the exclusion of human use considerations in MPA designation processes under the European nature directives, the distinct UK legal framework for Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) permits social and economic factors in site selection decisions. These considerations were, however, kept separate from the science-policy framework to deliver an Ecologically Coherent Network (ECN) under the legislation. This set the basis for site selection and designation in English waters, applied under four regional stakeholder projects between 2009 and 2011 and subsequently via a more centralised government process that by 2019 had culminated in three tranches of MCZ site designations. We describe the interplay between top-down policy, stakeholder dynamics and the role of evidence in taking account of commercial fisheries during the process. We argue that a failure to integrate human use considerations in the science-policy framework, and the resulting de-facto subordination of fisheries in site selection decision-making, risks undermining wider conservation gains.