Lundy Marine Protected Area

Intelligence Report – July 2022

Lundy Marine Protected Area is an example of effective marine protection.

General Key Finding

A vast array of different vessel types visit the site often without broadcasting on AIS.

Vessel Tracking Key Finding

Historic AIS analysis revealed that this is a location where larger vessels shelter during periods of poor weather.

Remote Sensing Key Finding

Lundy had the highest amount of imagery, covering approximately 25% of days in the monitoring period. Imagery suggests that the area has a high level of compliance with fisheries regulations.

Observed Activity

  
      AIS Analysis Alerts:
      2
    
      Machine Learning Alerts:
      0
    
      SAR Images:
      7
    
      EO Images:
      16
    
      High Risks:
      0

The image to the right shows ‘dark vessel’ detections in and around the 31 km2 Lundy MCZ, situated 19 km off the North Devon Coast.

Each orange marker denotes a low risk ‘dark vessel’ detection (n= 8) from SAR swaths and EO images taken over the Lundy MPA between April, May, and June 2022.

These detections show that site use is evenly distributed. Any patrols would need to cover the west and eastern sides of the island.

There were no high-risk detections in the MPA during the monitoring period. This indicates a high level of compliance with the fisheries regulations.

This also demonstrates a limitation of remote sensing; catches cannot be checked using remote sensing methods and therefore compliance with no-take regulations cannot be verified.

Conclusions

Compliance with the D&S IFCA Mobile Permit Byelaw (prohibiting bottom towed gear) appears to be high based on remote sensing images. No large fishing vessels were observed operating in the area.

Electro-optical imagery was a highly effective remote sensing technique for this site, with cloud cover being less of a limitation than initially expected. The utilization significantly increased surveillance of the area compared to traditional patrolling and is more economical than equivalent patrol vessel surveillance.

Recommendations

Continue monitoring the location using Electro-optical Imagery to monitor fisheries compliance and site use.

It would be valuable to investigate landing declarations from vessels identified operating in the area to ensure compliance with other byelaws.

Extended Findings

There were no high-risk detections within the Marine Protected Area (MPA), with 8 detections being categorised as low risk. These were likely to be fishing vessels but did not fit the size or profile of bottom towed gear vessels. Many of the detections would be visible from shore. Due to the isolated nature of the site, remote sensing was a useful tool to regularly and consistently monitor the area.

High resolution imagery detected the same vessels on multiple occasions showing that certain vessels were very active in the area. Electro-optical (EO) imagery and ground truthing confirmed that these detections were mainly local vessels associated with recreational activities around the island.

Remote sensing indicated a higher site use than seen during the phase 3 AIS analysis, which indicates low AIS usage within the site. In total there were 35 uncorrelated EO detections and 10 uncorrelated SAR detections in and around the site (of which 8 were raised as low risk detections requiring further investigation). AIS transmissions were relatively low when compared to the number of vessel detections using satellite imagery.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) was useful to understand levels of activity within the area, but it provided limited support for the monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) in the Lundy MPA, due to the diverse nature of vessel types and the delay between image acquisition and delivery of the risk assessment.

EO and vessel tracking analysis identified a relatively large presence of pleasure vessels continually passing through and anchoring in the MPA.

Risk Assessment

The primary risk to the site is from vessels illegally fishing with bottom towed gear. The impact from a single trawl event could be significant. Although this analysis did not detect this type of activity, the risk remains and monitoring of the trawl fleet movements around the Lundy Island MPA should continue.

The secondary risk comes from vessels removing Spiny Lobster (a feature of the MCZ for which a prohibition on removal exists). Through the analysis it has been identified that several likely potting vessels operate throughout the MPA, however these remote sensing tools cannot be used to monitor catches and confirm compliance with the no-take regulation.

The majority of vessels identified by remote sensing and tracking data were small vessels with class B AIS transponders. The transmission rate and use of these devices was low. This made vessels difficult to track and creates a collision risk. Though this likelihood is low, the impact could include environmental damage to the features, habitat, and species that the MPA protects.

Next Steps

Based on information from remote sensing sources there is a low risk of likely unauthorised vessel activity over the MPA. Detections from EO imagery suggest that the fishing vessels are likely to be small potting vessels, that are permitted to operate within the site.

Based on the key risk identified, it is recommended to continue monitoring the area with EO imagery, the benefits of which include better understanding of activity levels. Furthermore, with effective communications on its use this technology would provide a deterrent effect, which is crucial for overall compliance for effective MPA management. Remote sensing can support MCS but cannot be used in isolation, there are various catch restrictions and technical measures that cannot be monitored solely with remote sensing and measures such as these are in force in the Lundy MPA. Therefore, more traditional measures, such as monitoring landings and logbook information is still required. Improving the robustness of associated legislation could increase detection of offenses, improve compliance, and therefore help protect the MPA.