In its response to the White Paper on the Marine Bill, the SPS calls for a more thoughtful and sensitive approach. ‘The Marine Conservation Zone concept in the White Paper is essentially a hierarchy of traditional protected areas,’ said SPS chairman, Professor Malcolm Forster. ‘This is a twentieth-century concept and out of touch with the expectations of users of the near offshore.’

The SPS discovered this when it consulted on its now-abandoned proposal for a Marine National Park in the West Solent, he added. The idea attracted a lot of flak and forced us back to the drawing board. It seems to us that what is needed is a much more imaginative approach, where competing uses and interests in the sea-space are integrated, rather than relegated in favour of a ‘super-interest, even if that is conservation-related.

The SPS is calling for a new approach, where the near-offshore is managed so that each use of the area interferes with the others to the minimum extent possible.

‘We see this as the way ahead in complex areas like the West Solent, where we think conservation can successfully cohabit with other uses, including sailing and other water-based recreation,’ said Professor Forster.