Researchers have highlighted the rise in shipping in the Northeast Atlantic is a major cause for concern, especially in marine protected areas.
The scientists from the University of Portsmouth looked at data between 2013 and 2017, where the data showed that over that five-year period, traffic growth was a huge 34% across the Atlantic. More alarmingly, the traffic growth in marine protected areas was a stunning 73%. This has led to some serious concerns about the impact this increased traffic would have on marine life.
According to James Robbins, the lead author from the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Portsmouth:
“This change is likely to put more pressure on the marine environment, and consequently may have implications for the conservation of exposed and at-risk species. Renewed monitoring effort is needed to ensure that protective measures are adequate to conserve species under threat in a changing environment, where the footprint of human activities is expanding.”
While the Professor Alex Ford from the same institute stated:
“Given the well-documented impacts that shipping can have on the marine environment, it is crucial that this situation continues to be monitored – particularly in areas designated to protect vulnerable species and ecosystems which may already be under pressure.”
You can find the original study here.
