Poole Rocks Recommended MCZ | The Wildlife Trusts

Poole Bay reef (Credit Peter Tinsley)

The shallow-water here is actually cloaked in animal turf which includes sponges, bryozoans and hydroids.

The rarely recorded Couch’s goby has been spotted here and fish, such as pouting and pollack, often shoal over the rocks.

Poole Rocks recommended MCZ is an area of low-lying rocky outcrops in the largely sediment dominated Poole Bay.

The water is more turbid than areas to the west of Poole Bay. The shallow-water, rocky seabed of Poole Rocks are cloaked in animal turf, which include sponges, bryozoans and hydroids, rather than seaweeds. A few solitary pink seafans have been recorded on nearby patches of rock.

The rarely recorded Couch’s goby has been spotted here and fish, such as pouting and pollack, often shoal over the rocks. Several wrasse species use these reefs, including Ballan wrasse, which nest among the rocks. The native oyster is found here both among the rocks and on the surrounding sediment.

This recommended Marine Conservation Zone has been put forward for potential designation in 2013, government consultation pending.

We need you to urge Defra remain committed to designating this site in 2013 and putting appropriate managment in place as soon as possible.

This site has been proposed for designation in 2013 for most features, although not for subtidal sand and subtidal mixed sediment which Defra has indicated require further evidence before being designated. This site has been classified as at risk by Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, who indicated that the native oyster was particularly vulnerable to pressures within the site.

We need you to urge Defra remain committed to designating this site in 2013 and putting appropriate managment in place as soon as possible. Defra should commit to gathering additional data to consider designation of those additional features requiring more evidence in a future tranche.