Marine rewilding project sees 'remarkable' results

A marine rewilding initiative to restore an underwater kelp forest in West Sussex is celebrating "remarkable" results, a wildlife trust has said.

The project was launched after the implementation of a new bylaw prohibiting trawling in a 117 sq mile (302 sq km) coastal area between Shoreham-by-Sea and Selsey in March 2021.

Celebrating its fourth anniversary, Sussex Kelp Recovery Project (SKRP) researchers have reported positive signs of recovery, including an increase in the populations of lobster, brown crab, angelshark and short-snouted seahorse.

Project lead Dr Chris Yesson said: "We still have a way to go, but it's exciting to see nature begin to flourish once more."

Kelp forests once covered vast areas of coastline in the county. But 96% had been wiped out by 2019, largely due to the great storm of 1987 and fishing practices known as bottom-trawling.

The kelp forests provided habitat, nursery and feeding grounds for marine wildlife, and held huge quantities of carbon, improved water quality and reduced coastal erosion, campaigners said.

The Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw was introduced in 2021, allowing fish habitats the chance to recover.

In response to the byelaw, Sir David Attenborough said it was a "vital win in the fight against the biodiversity and climate crisis".

Since then, the SKRP was formed to study and facilitate the return of kelp.

A total of 400 kelp recorders are registered with Sussex Wildlife Trust's Citizen Science programme to collect observations.

The project has shown the presence of oyster and honeycomb worms, as well as an increase in shallow-dwelling species, such as Atlantic mackerel, sand eels and mullets, since the implementation of the byelaw.

Local freediver Eric Smith said: "I was apprehensive about what I'd find this year after such a stormy winter, but to my absolute delight, I witnessed a dramatic increase in marine biodiversity."

Sussex Wildlife Trust's kelp recovery coordinator, George Short, said it had highlighted the expansion of mussel beds, the likes of which had not been seen for decades.

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