Marin Mätteknik Lyme Bay – Natural England Survey

LymeBay

Sub-contracted through NetSurvey to provide Marin Mätteknik AB with a Quality Control and Reporting Manager onboard the MV Icebeam for the MCA Lyme Bay – Natural England survey. The 300 square kilometre survey area is a combined project undertaken by the MCA and Natural England, with assistance from the UKHO. Natural England have been working as the Government’s statutory advisor to identify and propose examples of marine habitats around the coast of England for designation as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). Lyme Bay contains a wide variety of reef features, occurring as outcropping bedrock (including igneous, chalk, mudstone and limestone – the area is adjacent to the spectacular Jurassic Coast). The reef areas are interspersed with patches of gravel, sand and muddy sediments, leading to a diverse range of seabed habitats. A recent study has identified this area as having particularly high species richness, and labelled it as a marine biodiversity hotspot. The acquired Kongsberg EM3002 dual-head multibeam data was verified using Caris HIPS and Fledermaus. A Report of Survey was compiled and submitted to the UKHO, along with high-resolution FM Geocoder backscatter data and seabed samples to support seabed classification.

4 thoughts on “Marin Mätteknik Lyme Bay – Natural England Survey

  1. This survey must be costing a fortune ! Natural England must be serious about getting some more protection zones in place to add to the no towing of fishing gear 6 mile box between Beer Head & Lyme Regis . Hopefully something exciting & good for most people & of course sealife will come out of this survey . Wish you well for your concern , good luck & keep up the good work ! From a conservationist angler in Lyme Bay !

  2. P.S mean’t to say I have been tracking Icebeam & Seabeam on marine traffic thats how I found out about this survey . Maybe your survey should get more publicity perhaps on Spotlight news , its of great interest to alot of people & for the future of everyone’s wellbeing. Please ignore this if it has been publicised & I have missed it !

  3. Hi Clive, thanks for your comments. I was on Icebeam during the initial nearshore campaign to the east of Beer Head about 5 years ago. It’s a beautiful part of the country, both above and below the water! The area that Icebeam and Seabeam are surveying now is about four times larger, but it seems like they’re getting on pretty well, despite the weather! All the best. Mark.

  4. I too have been following ice and seabeam with curiosity, hoping the intention is to stop some of the destruction caused by scallop dredging. It makes so much sense to leave decent areas free of damaging fishing methods which should give us good nursery sites to maintain a growing stock for much more sustainable fishing for all.

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