Public awareness and attitudes towards marine protection in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Public perception research evaluating awareness and attitudes towards marine protection is limited in the United Kingdom (UK) and worldwide. Given public opinion can help drive policy and affect its successful delivery we conducted nationwide surveys in 2005, 2010 and 2015 to assess public knowledge of UK (England, Scotland and Wales) sea 'health' and management. Respondents from all three surveys were relatively pessimistic about sea 'health', perceiving this as poor-fair and largely in decline. Enthusiasm for marine conservation was high with almost two-thirds of respondents in each survey wanting >40% of UK seas highly protected from fishing and damaging activities. In 2015 there was considerable dissatisfaction with the rate of progress in Marine Conservation Zone designation and over three-quarters of respondents considered dredging and trawling to be inappropriate in protected areas, contrary to management. The UK government and devolved administrations need to better align future conservation and management with public expectations.

Understanding and managing fish populations: keeping the toolbox fit for purpose

“…fishery regulations, MPAs and MCZs and to incorporate these data into fisheries policy and governance frameworks. For example, there is high public support for MPAs, with surveys showing that people desire around 40% of the UK's marine waters to be protected (Hawkins et al, ). But, while the public appears to realise that levels of coverage are well below 40%, there is still a substantial disconnect between perceived coverage of highly protected UK MPAs (11%) and actual MPA coverage (<0·1%); ultimately, this means that people believe the UK oceans receive a higher level of conservation than in reality (Hawkins et al, ).…”

Charting the course for a blue economy in Peru: a research agenda

“…In recent years understanding human interactions with nature and the impact of this on perceptions, values and well-being, has been increasingly recognised as integral to marine and coastal management Blasiak et al 2015;Jefferson et al 2015;Soma and Haggett 2015;Hawkins et al 2016). This is evidenced by the growing interest in coupled social-ecological systems and the notion that human society is an integral component of nature; thereby requiring greater understanding of the interconnections between society and its environments (Blasiak et al 2015).…”

“…Recent studies have continued to highlight the valuable role of public perceptions research (PPR) in understanding the diversity of societal interactions with marine and coastal environments (Blasiak et al 2015;Jefferson et al 2015;Hawkins et al 2016) and the scale and scope of the potential applications of PPR is also on the rise (Jefferson et al in prep). Understanding and value of including community values relating to marine issues in decision-making related to blue growth, remains in its infancy and is relatively fragmented when compared with terrestrial environments (Blasiak et al 2015;Potts et al 2016).…”

“…PPR provides researchers, practitioners, policy makers and industries with a mechanism to understand human relationships with our seas though multiples lenses (Jefferson et al 2015), and provides an opportunity to highlight gaps in public understanding or areas of concern in public connection with their marine environments. PPR has the potential to positively support more effective policy development, and to support better communication of marine and coastal conservation and management messages (Hawkins et al 2016;Jefferson et al 2015).…”

“…In addition to providing an insight into societal connections with the seas, PPR can also aid prioritisation of policy development (including marine spatial plans), and highlight public support or challenges for particular initiatives, e.g. marine renewable energy (Soma and Haggett 2015) or development of coastal tourism infrastructure (Hawkins et al 2016). Having a thorough understanding of public views and attitudes relating to the range of blue growth opportunities available to Peru (e.g.…”