Portsmouth 'should lead efforts to improve ocean' and lobby government

The motion will call on the council to ‘consider ocean recovery’ in every decision it makes and to introduce initiatives to give every primary school pupil in the city the chance to experience it first hand during their learning.

But it says ‘local authorities cannot solve the ocean crisis alone’ and would also require the council to write to the government, urging it to take action.

The motion will be put forward by keen surfers councillors Rob New and Daniel Wemyss at Tuesday’s annual general meeting. Cllr New said steps needed to be taken ‘urgently’.

‘In Portsmouth, like the rest of planet, we are witnessing the ocean crisis first-hand,' he will say. ‘Fish stocks continue to collapse from permitted and illegal overfishing and poor water quality is impacting seafood and safe bathing.

‘Our beaches are covered in litter with each tide, much of it plastic, though this is just the tip of the iceberg of the amount of litter in our oceans.

‘Marine microplastics have been found in all marine environments and in the bodies of many species, including humans and the species of fish we regularly eat.

‘Our residents are on the frontline of climate change and are being disproportionately impacted relative to inland communities.’

Should the motion pass, it will require the council’s cabinet to:

Report within six months on steps it will take to ‘begin an ocean recovery in Portsmouth’ to put in place measures to make sure the issue is considered in all strategic decisions, including the Local Plan, to promote closer ties with the Marine Management Organisation, to work with marine companies in the city to make the sector more sustainable, to 'grow ocean literacy and marine citizenship in Portsmouth’ by improving education, to work with City of Portsmouth College to improve training, and to provide updates on its progress online.

On top of these, it will require the council to make a series of demands to the government, including through the appointment of a minister for coastal communities and to strengthen legislation around plastic pollution.

Cllr New said these measures were particularly important in an island city and said the condition of oceans ‘should not be forgotten’ when looking at steps to tackle climate change.

‘There's rightfully a big focus on land-based initiatives but it seems we tend to not to pay so much attention to everything blue,’ he said. ‘Having thriving oceans promotes thriving coastal communities.’

He said many of the initiatives included in the motion had been recommended by the Plymouth-based Ocean Conservation Trust and that they were based on ‘extensive’ research.