Monitoring the recovery of Lyme Bay

2008

With 200 sq km protected from bottom towed fishing gear, the University of Plymouth forms a consortium with the Marine Biological Association and Plymouth Marine Laboratory to undertake an interdisciplinary study about the recovery of the Lyme Bay reefs. It also begins its first monitoring towed video survey.

2009

An annual baited video survey is commenced to complement the towed video survey, ensuring that shy and cryptic species resident in Lyme Bay are also counted. The Lyme Bay project also features for the first time on the BBC’s Countryfile.

2010

A research paper outlining the methods being used in monitoring Lyme Bay is published in PLOS One, but there are still no detectable signs of seabed recovery.

2011

Researchers start to see the first signs of noticeable recovery. Significantly more sponges and ross corals are observed, and reef-associated species are observed for the first time growing from sediment habitats, which raises alarms about feature-based management. There is an explosion of small black sea cucumbers and the first sightings of thornback rays and greater pipefish.

2012

Tooni Mahto, from the BBC's Oceans series, joins researchers on one of their monitoring expeditions in Lyme Bay, and researchers and communities begin to work with the Blue Marine Foundation.

2013

The first research paper detailing Lyme Bay reef recovery is published in PLOS One, at the same time as Dr Adam Rees begins his PhD working with the Blue Marine Foundation and local fishers to study the impacts of the potting industry. Important papers regarding site versus feature based management, and the sediment veneer reef associated species, are published in Marine Pollution Bulletin. Researchers also get their first sighting of a sea mouse.

2014

The team receives significant funding to carry out an emergency survey following a tumultuous series of winter storms, and it reveals significant reductions in species diversity and abundance. Large numbers of sea fangles are also washed up on Chesil Beach.

2015

There is a second appearance for the team on the BBC’s Countryfile, with Adam Rees working alongside presenter Tom Heap.

2016

Researchers see huge numbers of juvenile pink sea fans returning to the seabed. They also record their first sightings of a monkfish and a ling.

2017

The team is award funding for the RETURN project, which allows them to continue Lyme Bay long-term monitoring for more years. They also record sightings of common dolphins on their first day of annual surveys.

2018

Harnessing the successes in Lyme Bay, funding is awarded by the Blue Marine Foundation which aims to identify the tools through which fishermen across the country can secure a sustainable income while endeavouring to meet national and international conservation goals.

2019

A major report funded by Defra and the Blue Marine Foundation shows that restricting the amount of inshore potting for crab and lobster within marine protected areas (MPAs) can generate a “win-win” for both fishermen and the marine environment. Work also begins on the ROPE project, using acoustic tracking technology to explore the importance of offshore aquaculture and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to commercially important species.

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns pose a number of challenges for researchers, but the team still successfully carries out its annual monitoring which ensured there was no gap into the continuous dataset. The work in Lyme Bay also featured as a case study in a publication in the Marine Policy journal, in which it was cited as “the only socio-economic evaluation of an MPA that links socio-economic outcomes with ecological recovery".

2021

The team is awarded funding to lead the €4million FISH-INTEL project, which will use cutting edge technology to enhance the habitats of key fish species on both sides of the English Channel. It is also prolific year for research publications with a paper on pot fishing published in the high impact journal Scientific Reports. There is also a paper highlighting the seabed’s resilience in the face of extreme storms, which is published in August in Frontiers in Marine Science. And just two weeks later, there is an article in the Journal of Applied Ecology which shows Marine Protected Area status can boost fish populations by almost 400%.