Marine Environment

As a responsible Harbour Authority, we comply with national and international legislation to deliver our statutory duties. We also apply best practice to ensure we minimise our impact on the environment and operate efficiently. We aim to mitigate potential environmental issues and ‘work with nature’ to deliver sustainable nature-based solutions to climate change impacts across our ports.

Peel Ports are progressive and proactive towards their marine environmental responsibilities. We achieve this through innovation, support, and the identification of cost-effective initiatives that deliver environmental improvements.

Who we work with

As part of our statutory duties and approach to responsible business, we work with a number of external stakeholders to deliver our statutory duties and assess innovative opportunities which deliver environmental benefits. Example Stakeholders include:

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)

Clyde Marine Planning Partnership

Environment Agency

Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA)

Marine Management Organisation

Marine Directorate

Natural England

NatureScot

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

The Angling Trust

The Crown Estate

 
At a national level, we participate in the development of regional Marine Plans in both England and Scotland, regularly liaising with regulatory bodies to ensure that the final plan policies are proportional with regards to the social, economic and environmental activities across the marine areas of our ports.

Marine Biosecurity

In a world where we are becoming increasingly connected and our climate is changing there is an increasing risk that invasive non-native marine species (INNS) are transferred into regions where they were not found previously.

As a responsible port operator we have developed a Marine Biosecurity Plan which focuses on taking practical steps throughout the marine activities in our ports to reduce the transfer risk of INNS.

Biosecurity

Dredging

As a Statutory Harbour Authority we have a duty to maintain safe navigational access into our Ports, this is achieved through maintenance dredging.

Dredging

Beneficial re-use of dredged material

Dredging is a fundamental responsibility across our 7 Statutory Harbour Authorities to facilitate safe navigation within our ports. Our Group Marine Team regularly investigates opportunities for beneficial re-use of dredge material and have established local Sediment Stakeholder Groups across each of our ports to discuss and deliver sustainable solutions that benefit the environment by reducing carbon emissions and enhancing or building habitat.

Dredged Materials

Species Protection

Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) pose a potential risk to the environment and our port operations. To help to minimise this risk and protect local environments from Invasive Non-Native Species, the Marine Team has developed several guidance documents to assist with the formulation of port-specific marine biosecurity plans.

Species Protection

Climate Change

Climate change is a growing business risk to the functionality of transport networks, including ports. The Marine Team are looking at possible climate change adaptation strategies in response to the latest climate change scenarios.

Climate Change