Project leaders share 'remarkable' results after banning devastating ocean practice: 'It's exciting to see nature begin to flourish'

A rewilding project in England has been deemed a success thanks to its "remarkable" results, according to a wildlife trust.

The Sussex Kelp Recovery Project is celebrating its four-year anniversary. Since its launch, researchers have recorded many positive signs of kelp recovery.

Increased populations of lobsters, brown crabs, angel sharks, and short-snouted seahorses are one result.

Kelp forests used to cascade throughout the English coastline. According to the BBC, 96% of kelp forests had been wiped out by 2019 because of the great storm of 1987 and harmful fishing practices, including bottom trawling.

Bottom trawling is a method in which large nets are dragged across the ocean floor, with floats on the top and heavy gear on the bottom to keep the net open. 

This practice is harmful for marine life because it unintentionally captures wildlife and causes drowning, injury, and stress.

As it relates to kelp, this practice uproots the plant and causes mass habitat and food loss.

The forests also have high carbon levels, resulting in improved water quality and reduced erosion along the coast. When kelp gets destroyed by trawlers, water quality decreases.

"We still have a way to go, but it's exciting to see nature begin to flourish once more," Chris Yesson, leader of SKRP, said.

This project has received an overwhelming show of support from the locals on the English coast. A reported 400 people have registered as kelp recorders with the Sussex Wildlife Trust's Citizen Science program to collect observations. 

Local freediver Eric Smith is among the many who have shown support for SKRP. "I was apprehensive about what I'd find this year after such a stormy winter, but to my absolute delight, I witnessed a dramatic increase in marine biodiversity," Smith said.

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