The report, ‘UK Kelp Recovery: Barriers and Optimum Conditions’ which is being released ahead of the Kelp Summit, identifies the factors effecting kelp growth and recovery. The report suggests that reducing pollution, disturbance and sedimentation from dredging and trawling are crucial to allow natural kelp recovery and prevent decline of healthy kelp beds.
Pippa Moore, Professor of Marine Science at Newcastle University and co-author of the report commented: “Kelp forests are some of the most productive on earth and provide a wealth of goods and services to human society. At the same time, they are at risk from human activities such as climate change, destructive fishing practices and pollution.”
The report comes after the SKRP recently celebrated the four-year anniversary of their project - the UK’s largest marine rewilding initiative - and the introduction of the Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw.
Sam Fanshawe, Senior UK Projects Manager from Blue Marine Foundation and report co-author said: “The landmark Sussex IFCA Nearshore Trawling Byelaw was the first vital action to remove the main cause of disturbance to the seabed and create the conditions needed for kelp to resettle and grow. Sadly, other impacts such as increased levels of sediment, nutrients and pollution could impede natural recovery of kelp habitats and the wider marine ecosystem. The report on UK Kelp Recovery: Barriers and Optimum Conditions draws together our knowledge of the key factors needed to allow kelp growth and the return of the once abundant kelp beds in Sussex and avoid declines in other regions.”
Kelp forests are considered among the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems on Earth – each individual kelp hosting as many as 80,000 individual organisms. Yet despite their importance, they are threatened by interacting global and local scale pressures, including climate change. This can be seen in the form of rising sea temperatures and increases in the frequency, intensity and duration of extreme weather events. In addition, human activities such as pollution, trawling, increased sediment and invasive species have resulted in the degradation and loss of kelp forests in many regions around the world.
Henri Brocklebank, Director of Conservation at Sussex Wildlife Trust and Chair of SKRP said: “All living things have specific requirements for life - temperature, light, water quality and more. To progress marine recovery locally we need we need to understand the optimal conditions for kelp ecosystems. Bringing all this information together into a single source, utilising the latest research is a milestone for SKRP’s work and kelp under threat elsewhere.”
In the UK, kelp beds of large brown seaweeds are estimated to occur along ~60% of the coastline, from the East coast of Scotland to the Isles of Scilly, where there is rocky substrate kelp can attach to and suitable water quality.
In Sussex, kelp forests once covered vast areas from Selsey to Shoreham, but by 2019, 96% of kelp forests had been destroyed. This was largely due to The Great Storm of 1987 followed by ensuing destructive fishing practices known as bottom-trawling, which devastated the seabed and the wildlife which inhabited these underwater havens. As kelp forests provide crucial nursery habitats for fish and invertebrates, their loss significantly impacted local fisheries and marine biodiversity.
To address this, a landmark fisheries management regulation (Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw) was introduced in March 2021 to implement a 300km2 trawling exclusion zone on the Sussex seabed.
Four years on, there are encouraging signs of ecosystem recovery, with increased abundance of fish species such as black seabream and increased extent of blue mussel beds (which create the hard substrate onto which the kelp fix and grow).
Taking place at the Attenborough Centre at the University of Sussex on 2-3 April, the Kelp Summit 2025: ‘Progress Beyond Protection’ is hosted by SKRP and supported by the Environment Agency. The event will bring together more than 200 national scientists, conservationists and policy makers to share knowledge to conserve our underwater forests.
Henri added: “Sussex has put rewilding on the map – starting with the epic Knepp rewilding project and now with the largest marine rewilding initiative in the UK. We are thrilled to welcome participants for the UK’s first national kelp ecology conference to progress marine research, monitoring and recovery at scale.”
The outcomes of the Kelp Summit 2025 and the conclusions of the report will provide invaluable insights and help drive meaningful progress towards a wider understanding of kelp ecosystems and marine recovery in Sussex and beyond.
Pippa concluded: “Having a sound understanding of the conditions that encourage or hinder kelp recovery when it is disturbed is vital before making informed management decisions on whether passive or active approaches to kelp recovery are required. This report provides the context for UK waters”.
Those looking to support SKRP’s work can take part in the Sussex Kelp Recording Scheme, a citizen-led science programme where volunteers collect kelp observations to help map where kelp is recovering.
For more information, please visit: www.sussexkelp.org.uk