Policy paper

Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs)

Updated 25 May 2023

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Applies to England

Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) are areas of the sea (including the shoreline) that allow the protection and full recovery of marine ecosystems. By setting aside some areas of sea with high levels of protection, HPMAs will allow nature to fully recover to a more natural state, allowing the ecosystem to thrive.

HPMAs will protect all species and habitats and associated ecosystem processes within the site boundary, including the seabed and water column.

The first three Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) designations in English waters came into force on 5 July 2023.

The three sites are:

• Allonby Bay
• North East of Farnes Deep
• Dolphin Head

Lindisfarne and Inner Silver Pit South will not be designated.

This initial pilot phase of HPMAs will inform the future of HPMA policy.

Why we want HPMAs

Our marine environment is not as healthy as it needs to be. The UK government committed in the 25 Year Environment Plan to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. HPMAs have been shown to work in other places around the world and will contribute to the government’s vision for ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse ocean and seas’.

HPMAs are areas of the sea that allow the protection and recovery of marine ecosystems, taking a whole site approach to protections. HPMAs have a critical role to play in ocean recovery, by setting aside some areas of the sea with the highest levels of protection.

HPMAs will help take action to reduce the pressures it’s facing to improve the state of our seas, address biodiversity loss, and ensure a more climate resilient marine ecosystem which will deliver benefits for society.

HPMAs will help the government achieve its key environmental goals and targets, such as in the Environmental Improvement Plan, 25 Year Environment Plan, 30by30 commitment, net zero, sustainable fisheries and marine nature recovery. As an independent coastal state, this builds on our global leadership commitments to protect and conserve our blue planet, while supporting a sustainable fishing industry.

Sites intended for designation as HPMAs

Allonby Bay

• the Allonby Bay HPMA will cover 28 km2
• the HPMA is within an existing Marine Protected Area of the same name
• it has been selected due to the ecological importance of nature recovery in the site
• Allonby Bay habitats and species can provide a range of ecosystem services
• the nutrient-rich sediments, dense mussel beds and intertidal rocky habitats in this area attract large densities of shore birds including species such as curlew and oystercatcher
• the HPMA site contains ‘blue carbon’ habitats which capture and store carbon, therefore the protection and recovery of these areas is important as a nature-based solution to tackling climate change
• the consultation showed high levels of support for the site
• the boundary proposed for designation has been modified to allow for an area of recreational angling, including access for disabled anglers, and for other activities to continue due to its importance to the community and takes account of the needs of Maryport Harbour and the Port of Silloth while still delivering important biodiversity benefits

North East of Farnes Deep

• this HPMA is 492 km2 and ranges in depths from approximately 50 meters to 100 meters
• this HPMA overlaps entirely with an existing Marine Protected Area (MPA) of the same name
• North East of Farnes Deep has been selected due to the ecological importance of nature recovery in the site. Together with high levels of biodiversity and the complex seabed habitats, the area has the potential to contribute to a range of ecosystem services
• its habitats range from coarse sediments such as sand, where several species of filter feeding sponges have been identified, through to mixed sediment areas and mud dominated seabed habitats
• the large areas of muddy habitats are thought to be an important habitat for the storage of carbon
• evidence shows the complex sediment dominated seabed habitats in this area are important for the key life cycle for a range of species including birds, marine mammals and fish
• this includes spawning and nursery habitats for up to ten commercial important species such as angler fish, surmullet, whiting and haddock
• the pilot site is estimated to provide high ecological benefits and the costs at the site are low, indicating very good net social value (comparing benefits to costs) in designating the site

Dolphin Head

• this HPMA will cover 466 km2
• the HPMA partially overlaps with the Offshore Brighton Marine Protected Area
• Dolphin Head is hugely diverse by comparison to other areas in the Eastern Channel and has been selected due to the ecological importance of nature recovery in the site
• the HPMA is relatively degraded following impacts of human activity
• habitats in the area have a good recovery potential if the existing pressures are removed
• designating a pilot HPMA here presents an opportunity to fully recover habitats and species present across the area
• the designation of this site would help protected the feeding and nursery grounds of many important commercial fish species such as cod, herring, plaice as well as ecologically important habitats such as ross worm reefs
• the area attracts numerous seabirds (such as northern fulmar and black-legged kittiwake) and marine mammals (such as Risso’s dolphin and harbour porpoise)
• designating a pilot HPMA here presents an opportunity to fully recover habitats and species present across the area and within the partially overlapping Marine Conservation Zone
• the consultation response shows designation would be welcomed by a high majority of stakeholders, with very high support from recreational fishers and generally high levels of support from commercial fishers

Sites that will not be designated as HPMAs

Lindisfarne and Inner Silver Pit South will not be designated as HPMAs.

Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne will not be designated due to the evidence showing there was a high level of dependency in the local area on employment opportunities provided by existing activities. One third of Holy Island residents are employed in commercial fishing. Many residents were concerned about losing their heritage, community and cultural identity through losing fishing. The geographical isolation of a large number of this site’s stakeholders provides additional cost implications, including that it is difficult for them to switch jobs.

Additionally, due to the community’s isolation and self-dependency, the potential designation raised a number of health and safety concerns, including on mental health. Evidence of other impacts included reduced income from tourist activities, and the likelihood of the loss of school and coastguard provision due to fishers and families moving away from the island.

Inner Silver Pit South

Inner Silver Pit South will not be designated as the relatively high costs to fishermen would not be offset by the potential benefits from its designation as a HPMA. The commercial fishing in the site is comparatively productive compared to the surrounding areas. As well as incurring high costs from designation, the benefits would be comparatively low. The analysis shows the net social value (comparing benefits to costs) was the lowest across all sites.

How we are working with stakeholders

We met with a broad range of stakeholders throughout the HPMA process, and we will continue to engage with them in the lead-up to designation and beyond this into the management and evaluation stages.

• we invited stakeholders to propose HPMA locations
• we met with stakeholders to discuss the draft ecological, social and economic criteria and areas of the sea that have been excluded from the site selection process
• we gathered additional evidence during consultation to ensure that we used the best available evidence to choose which pilot HPMAs to designate. This included evidence on site acceptability, social and economic impacts and scope for livelihood adaptation
• we undertook site-specific engagement with local, national and international stakeholders during consultation to collect further evidence. This included in-person meetings at locations most relevant to the candidate sites alongside online meetings
• we will continue to engage with stakeholders throughout the designation process and gauge their response to the government’s designation intentions

An overview of the pilot HPMA selection process

We identified candidate HPMAs using ecological, social and economic criteria, selecting areas that provided maximum biodiversity and ecosystem benefits while seeking to minimise impacts on sea users.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Natural England, along with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), developed ecological criteria to identify potential HPMA locations, and invited stakeholders to submit proposals for HPMAs that met these criteria.

To ensure that pilot HPMAs can deliver full protection and recovery, locations with existing and/or consented physical structures and activities that would ordinarily be prohibited within an HPMA, such as dredging and dumping, were discounted early on in the selection process.

After considering third-party proposals, alongside areas they themselves had identified, Natural England and JNCC developed an initial list of potential areas. Defra then applied social and economic criteria to identify candidate sites. These criteria focused on activities that would be impacted by the candidate HPMAs.

This included, but was not limited to, understanding what UK and non-UK wild capture fishing, recreational angling and anchoring activities were occurring within the location.

How we will manage pilot HPMAs

Management measures will be needed to further the conservation objective of HPMAs. Pilot HPMAs will be designated as Marine Conservation Zones under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. In line with advice from Natural England and JNCC, it is anticipated that extractive, destructive and depositional activities will be prohibited within each site.

This would include activities such as:

• commercial and recreational fishing
• dredging
• construction
• anchoring

Non-damaging levels of other activities to the extent permitted by international law are allowed. 

Public authorities, including the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authorities (IFCA), will need to ensure they meet the general duties and specific duties in relation to certain decisions that may affect Marine Conservation Zones within the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.

Public authorities will have responsibility for ensuring compliance in line with their remit, supported by conservation advice from the relevant Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs).

Details of the consultation

Our public consultation ran from 6 July 2022 to 28 September 2022. It sought views on the five candidate HPMAs that were proposed as pilot sites for designation in English waters, and gathered additional social, economic and ecological evidence to support the decision-making process. 

The HPMA consultation provided all stakeholders with the opportunity to share their views and provide evidence on affected activities and inform our final decisions on which sites to designate.

We consulted on the following candidate HPMA sites:

Inshore

• Allonby Bay (Irish Sea)
• Lindisfarne (northern North Sea)

Offshore

• Dolphin Head (Eastern Channel)
• Inner Silver Pit South (southern North Sea)
• north-east of Farnes Deep (northern North Sea)

Next steps

We expect fisheries management measures to be implemented in early 2024, following consultation.

Defra’s Secretary of State has requested Defra explores additional sites for consideration this year.