5th September 2024
Steve Reed OBE, MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Dear Mr Reed,
Many congratulations on your party’s extraordinary victory in this summer’s general election, and your appointment to serve as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
We the undersigned, as dedicated marine advocates, must draw your attention to the fact that our precious and fragile nearshore marine environments in the South West are facing multiple threats, including from aggressive, commercial seaweed aquaculture speculators.
The great majority of ‘marine citizens’ here are supporters of innovation in the Blue Economy, and welcome seaweed aquaculture as a sustainable solution to our future food, pharmaceutical, fuel, clothing and packaging needs. The issue is that there is a lack of experience, regulation and governance in marine planning, and as a result the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has been overwhelmed by the unprecedented surge in applications over the last two years, and are considering and granting long licences for vast, untested farm infrastructures.
The rush to buy in to this nascent industry is allowing ‘bad actors’ in the sector to exploit weaknesses in the system and slide their applications through the marine licensing process, such as it is, without due diligence or sufficient scrutiny.
There is currently an ongoing ‘sea grab’ of the South West’s inshore waters. Six seaweed farm applications, totalling over 600 hectares of sensitive marine habitats in Devon and Cornwall, have all been coordinated by Biome Algae, either as applicant or as a consultant. Biome Algae is a small, loss making company with substantial negative net assets, with no land based infrastructure capable of processing an estimated annual harvest of 4000 tons of wet biomass, nor a viable onward market for industrially grown sugar kelp.
This company and its associates have avoided transparent community and stakeholder consultation on numerous occasions, only engaging when compelled to do so. Also, their applications consistently show copy-and-paste responses regardless of site location or sea conditions.
These actions by Biome Algae are giving other more conscientious and sustainable seaweed producers a bad name, and potentially holding back the expansion of this important industry.
One specific application submitted by Biome Algae, in partnership with Camel Fish Ltd, for Port Quin Bay in North Cornwall (MLA/2023/00308 and 00307), seeking licence for a 100.8 hectare farm over a 50 year term, was presented to the MMO in July 2023. A 28 day consultation period took place, and on its closure in August 2023, not a single objection had been logged by the MMO. The application was then awaiting lease approval from Crown Estates. This lack of objection from the community was because the general public were not made aware of the application. The public notice had not been placed in such a manner as to bring the application to the attention of persons likely to be interested in it. Eventually, on February 13th this year, a member of the local community discovered the MLAs and raised the alarm. Having forced a more transparent consultation period, the community responded by submitting an unprecedented 712 representations, 94.9% of which were in opposition to the proposal.
Despite this opposition, which included wildlife data and legal and environmental reviews, and highlighted the impacts on the landscape and seascape, impacts on fisheries and navigation, on human health, on coastal communities, on legitimate users of the sea, this application is still being considered for approval.
The applicants have been unable to satisfy the MMO’s Further Information Requests throughout the process, and the application went on to spend the full 14 days on the Rejection Pathway, before being abruptly removed from that process and reconsidered. The MMO now state that there will be a further public consultation period.
This is devastating for the local community, who cannot afford the cost, the hours, or the impact on their mental health of repeating this process.
The MMO has dismissed as not relevant to their consideration the time, money and energy that the community has had to invest already, not only in the February consultation, but all day, every day, for over six months.
It is worth noting also that the MMO refused to release its own internal guidance on seaweed farm applications in response to a Freedom of Information Request. This lack of transparency is disturbing given that the MMO recently approved two of the 100ha applications coordinated by Biome Algae, at a licence duration far in excess of any awarded previously. One of these is within sight of the Port Quin Farm, in Port Isaac Bay.
Penmayn Limited (MLA/2022/00180), a shell company with no prior experience in the marine sector, have been awarded a 25-year licence by the MMO. Again, no public comments were received during the licensing process. The community, local councils and other stakeholders have now submitted a wealth of information to the MMO that conclusively undermines the basis upon which the licence was issued. Many of these issues replicate those being encountered in Port Quin. The MMO has the statutory power to revoke an existing licence and the evidence they are in receipt of justifies taking such action in this instance.
The Local Nature Partnership for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has produced a number of recommendations for regulators, both terrestrial and marine (primarily the MMO), and potential seaweed aquaculture developers, which it feels are essential when considering the development of the industry in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. If you wish to see a copy of those recommendations please contact the LNP via the email cioslnp@cornwall.gov.uk.
We also recommend viewing the Marine Plans Explorer map for areas of potential for seaweed aquaculture (link). Select ‘Aquaculture’, then ‘Sugar Kelp’. You will notice that there are no areas highlighted along the entirety of the north coast of Cornwall.
We do believe that there is a place for seaweed production in the UK, likely further offshore and away from protected species and sustainable fisheries, perhaps as part of an Aquaculture Enterprise Zone (Additive Earth/Crown Estates Report, Phase 1, link). This would potentially lead to more local job creation, greater freedom of movement, and limited opposition from stakeholders and communities.
We would suggest that licence approval should be dependent on there being functioning land based infrastructure in place, financial stability to operate, a more vibrant market for the product, and social licence being sought and granted.
We ask you and your department to investigate the Port Quin and Port Isaac cases immediately.
Please also consider a review of the MMO marine licensing process for seaweed aquaculture, with a view to improving resources to allow more rigorous examination of applications, and implementing failsafes such as community involvement, and a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment for all applications. EIAs are currently not required for seaweed farm applications, regardless of site location and environment.
Your sincerely,
Barnaby Kay, Director, Save Our Bays Community Interest Company
Sue Sayer MBE, Founder and Director, Seal Research Trust
Dr Tony Butt, Ocean Scientist, author, surfer
Tina Robinson, Founder, Our Only World
Geoffrey Hurst, Director of Operations, Seagreens
Hugh Attwater, Environmental and Social Risk and Impact Specialist
Avril Greenaway, Director, Cleaner Seas Project Community Interest Company
The Two Bays Trust
Peter Morriss, Chairman, Quinnian Trust
Christopher O’Grady, Trustee and Treasurer, Quinnian Trust
Damien Bolton, Senior Helm, Port Isaac Lifeboat
Port Quin Bay Trust
Save Port Isaac Bay Group
Save Port Quin Bay Group
94.9% of the communities of Port Quin, Port Isaac and the surrounding areas.
