Partnerships

Sussex Heritage Coast Partnership

The Sussex Heritage Coast Partnership was set out to protect and conserve the best stretches of undeveloped coast in England. A joint strategy and action plan has been produced to establish how the area will be managed for wildlife, landscape, tourism, recreation, heritage and the local community.

Wild Coast Sussex

The Wild Coast Sussex project will inspire Sussex communities to care for the marine environment and enable them to protect their local coast and sea. The project involves working with primary schools, young people (aged 12-25) and commercial fishermen, as well as the wider community and general public and take them on a journey to make a positive difference.

Biosphere/Living Coast

The Living Coast Partnership supports and delivers projects across the region, spanning nature conservation, suitable socio-economic development and environmental awareness. The living coast site stretches between Newhaven and Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex.

Fish Intel

Led by the University of Plymouth, FISH INTEL uses cutting edge technology to monitor key fish species and understand how they use different ecosystems within UK, French and Belgian seas. By tracking fish movements and studying their habitats, FISH INTEL hope to build a comprehensive picture that will inform commercial fishing policies and help marine life to thrive.

Sussex Kelp Recovery Project (SKRP)

The Sussex Kelp Recovery Project’s vision is to champion, study and facilitate the restoration of Sussex kelp to support a thriving and sustainable ecosystem. One of the project aims to understand the ecological, social and economic value of kelp and the impact of the Sussex IFCA Nearshore Trawling Byelaw. The Sussex IFCA acts as one of the collaborating organisations as a part of the SKRP.

Sussex Marine and Coastal Forum (SMACF)

The Sussex Marine and Coastal Forum is a multi-sector partnership bringing together stakeholders to work together to deliver environmental, economic and social benefits for marine and coastal ecosystems and communities in Sussex.

Chichester Harbour Protection and Recovery of Nature (CHaPRoN) steering group

In response to the decline of coastal habitats around the Chichester Harbour area, CHaPRoN was developed, with the aim to protect, enhance and drive recovery of the natural environment within the Harbour and help it adapt to climate change. The Sussex IFCA sits on the steering groups for CHaPRoN, and acts as a partner in the following groups:

Seagrass Working Group - This group was established by CHaPRoN to prevent any further net loss of existing intertidal and sub-tidal seagrass meadows, and to help drive the recovery of seagrass meadows within Chichester Harbour.

Shellfish Populations Group – This group was established by CHaPRoN to restore self-sustaining populations of native oysters and other shellfish within Chichester Harbour. The project also hopes to protect existing native oyster populations from further degradation.

Three Harbours Summit

One of the initiatives of the Three Harbours Summit is to develop a natural capital baseline for the Harbours (Langstone, Chichester and Pagham) and their catchments. Southern Water commissioned this work through Natural Capital Research Ltd and established a technical steering group to help inform the work. The Sussex IFCA acts as one of the members in this partnership.

IFCA Technical Advisory Group

The IFCAs Technical Advisory Group (TAG) promotes and facilitates communication, collaboration and coordination between IFCAs and other government organisations in relation to fisheries research and marine science. The group meets three times a year.

Solent Forum

The Solent Forum is an independent coastal partnership, established in 1992 to develop a greater understanding among the many local and harbour authorities, user groups, marine businesses and agencies involved in planning and management of the Solent. The forum has over 50 members including the Sussex IFCA.

The Solent Forum has worked alongside the Dorset Coast Forum and Isle of Wight Estuaries Partnership, to produce the 3 C's Handbook for the Environmental Agency. This was funded by the Coordinating Coastal Communities Project (3Cs), and is a component of a larger project bid from the national Coastal Partnership Network (CPN). It aims to showcase the work of these coastal partnerships to government agencies and wider coastal stakeholders.

Solent European Marine Site Natural Environment Group

The Natural Environment Group (NEG) was set up in 2004 and takes forward issues and actions identified by the annual monitoring scheme for the Solent Marine Sites Management Scheme.  It is a subsidiary group of the overall SEMS Management Group and reports to that group. The primary aim of the Natural Environment Group is to provide a cost-effective mechanism to coordinate the implementation of cross-cutting nature conservation actions stemming from the many overlapping statutory and non-statutory documents.

Crustacean Habitat and Sediment Movement (CHASM)

The Crustaceans, Habitat and Sediment Movement (CHASM) project was developed to better understand the factors affecting the decline of crab and lobster catch noted by the Selsey fishing industry along the coasts of Selsey and Bracklesham Bay. In particular, this project focuses on investigating potential impacts from increased sedimentation and pollutants throughout historical crab and lobster fishing grounds within Sussex.

Whelk working group

The Whelk Working Group (WWG) was formed in February 2019 to facilitate the exchange of information relating to the common whelk (Buccinum undatum) between Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs), other government agencies, fisheries authorities, academics, researchers, and others interested in whelk fisheries.