Plymouth University awarded NERC grant to investigate storm damage at Lyme Bay

Scientists at Plymouth University have launched an investigation into the impact upon the country’s first coastal marine protected area caused by the unprecedented sequence of storms this winter.

Researchers in the Marine Institute will use video cameras to assess changes to the seabed at Lyme Bay off the south coast of Devon as part of an Urgency grant by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

The project, which is also being funded by conservation charity the Pig Shed Trust and the South West Inshore Fishermen’s Association, will run for five months and could reveal for the first time the true scale of impact that storms can have on temperate regions.

Professor Martin Attrill, Director of the Marine Institute, is leading the project with Research Fellow Dr Emma Sheehan. She said:

“We know the storms did a huge amount of damage to the coast, but the question we’re setting out to answer is what has happened to the seabed at depths of around 20 metres?

“The University has been monitoring Lyme Bay since 2008 and that has given us a world-leading database of how a temperate area changes when you protect it from fishing. So we’ll have an unparalleled amount of footage with which to compare with the current situation.”

Using a fishing boat with a video camera trailed behind, the team will sample 60 sites across the 206km2 area looking for changes to the seabed, in particular those areas containing rocky reefs.

It is hoped that the study will not only shed light on whether marine protected areas are more resilient to storm damage and can recover more quickly, but may address a long-standing issue over damage attributed to fishing.

Professor Attrill said:

“We know that waves are felt well below the surface and can potentially disturb the seabed. If this is true, then this project will enable us to compare storm damage with the impacts of fishing, and, if of a similar scale, may suggest some attributed “rogue” fishing damage in MPAs could be from natural causes.”

The prestigious Urgency grant is awarded by NERC to projects which are considered to be of national importance to the environment – and this is the second to be awarded to the University in relation to the winter storms in a matter of weeks.

It follows an earlier award to members of its Coastal Processes Research Group and its Marine and Coastal Policy Research Centre, who are assessing the impacts of storms on both the physical and human coastal environment in the South West. Martin added:

“From the top of the cliff to 50-metres below the waves, the research capacity we have at Plymouth has meant we have become the place to come to understand how storms are impacting our environment.”