Common lobster (Credit Mark Thomas)
Yorkshire’s mixed and cobble seabed provides Europe's best fishing grounds for common lobster and edible crabs.
‘v-notching’ schemes, cutting a ‘v’ in young lobsters' tails, has helped protect future stocks here.
Located 11.4km offshore from the Holderness coast, this area ranges between 10 - 50 metres in depth. The seafloor consists of mixed and coarse sediment interspersed with small cobbles and ross worm reef, creating a mosaic of habitats for attaching and burrowing creatures. This area is significant for crustaceans, including edible crabs and common lobster.
To the south of the site is the Inner Silver Pit, a deep canyon with sloping walls covered in a living turf of brittlestars. Harbour porpoises and grey and harbour seals are regularly seen here foraging for food.
This recommended Marine Conservation Zone is ON HOLD at the moment as Defra has indicated that there is a need to better understand socio-economic impacts of designating the site.
We need you to urge Defra to consider this site as a high and urgent priority for designation in the next tranche:
Although Defra has indicated that there is enough evidence to support designation of all features recommended by stakeholders in this site, they feel there is a need for further work to understand the impacts of designation of the site on the renewable energy and fishing sectors.
This site has been identified as at risk by Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee due to the presence of sensitive features within the site. Last year, after the site was recommended by stakeholders, there were reports of considerable damage to this site by scallop dredging.
We need you to urge Defra to consider this site as a high and urgent priority for designation in the next tranche. The site should be protected from additional damage and degradation in the meantime.
Contains UKHO Law of the Sea data. Crown copyright and database right and contains Ordnance Survey Data Crown copyright and database 2012
Other nearby MCZs
Downloads
| Filename | File size |
|---|---|
| Holderness Offshore.pdf | 308.09 KB |