The process has been set out for creating our stakeholder group, which will play a pivotal role in recommending marine conservation zones.

 

The group will bring together representatives of everyone who uses or makes their living from the Irish Sea, including fishermen, the oil and gas industry, wind farms and recreational users such as divers and boaters.

 

The process for setting up the group has been devised by our independent facilitator, Dialogue Matters, and is laid out in detail a document that can be downloaded from our Resources pages.

 

The group will meet around six or eight times over the course of 18 months, with the first meeting scheduled for March 2010.

 

Its ultimate task will be to recommend a series of marine conservation zones in the Irish Sea.

 

As well as people and organisations based in the North West of England, it’s possible that the group will include representatives from national and foreign organisations with an interest in the Irish Sea.

 

The team at Irish Sea Conservation Zones will support the stakeholder group, providing additional information and collecting data so that the recommended zones are based on the best available information.

 

The recommended zones will also need to meet the ecological criteria laid out in national guidance, which will be available next year.