Irish Sea

All of Lancashire's coastline is part of the eastern shores of the Irish Sea which itself is 40,000 square miles, bounded by England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and is connected to the Atlantic Ocean. This means that not only is our local coastline part of a much wider global marine ecosystem, it also means that the plastic waste that gets left on our coast will pollute the Irish Sea and the Atlantic and get washed up on beaches in the British Isles and around the world.

Despite the fact we live by the Irish Sea, recent surveys by the Wildlife Trusts show that most people in the North West aren't aware of the threats to our marine environment and that they perceive the Irish Sea as murky and lifeless.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth because it is home to a huge diversity of marine species which is why there are ten Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in the Irish Sea, three of which are just off Lancashire's coast giving special protection to nationally important and rare species. Our three MCZs are the Fylde subtidal sands, Ribble Estuary and the Wyre-Lune Zone which covers the Wyre and Lune estuaries and part of Morecambe Bay. The Ribble Estuary and the Wyre-Lune Zones are saltmarsh habitats that are important breeding grounds for fish and feeding grounds for wading birds. The saltmarshes are also a natural solution to climate change because each hectare of saltmarsh can lock two tonnes of carbon per year and the carbon can if undisturbed be stored for millennia. The Fylde subtidal sands which are further offshore are home to marine birds such as the red throated diver and a rich variety of marine life particularly shellfish and flatfish which makes them valuable for the fishing industry.

The best ways we can protect our local marine environment are to stop plastic waste getting into our rivers and the sea and also to protect marine life from excessive commercial activity which is why the Wildlife Trusts are campaigning for more Marine Conservation Zones in the Irish Sea and the beach cleaning groups (who always need volunteers) are combing Lancashire's beaches and estuaries for plastic waste.