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CoastNet Futures Group inaugural Also in the news

meeting set for July
● Offshore wind at critical
A group of coastal and marine experts representing specialist areas and crossroads –
themes will come together on 12 July for the inaugural meeting of the A new report from the British Wind
CoastNet Futures Group, a research-based think tank set up to think beyond Energy Association concludes that
the short term and examine radical alternatives to mainstream thinking. Its offshore wind could provide six per
aim is to support the debate on coastal sustainability in the UK, Europe and cent of the UK’s electricity supply by
beyond through: 2015 if given more policy backing
● identifying emerging issues for coastal sustainability from the state. Without it, the report
● maintaining a rolling work programme in relation to research reports claims only 25 per cent of this
● ensuring that research findings and outputs are communicated widely to capacity will be delivered.
coastal professionals and the wider public Source: www.edie.net
● providing ‘thought leadership’ in the development of coastal policy
● engaging appropriate expertise in each research project.
● Japan buys votes to take
The July meeting will be used to set the agenda for the Group, its structure control of whaling body –
and composition and to develop ongoing themes and issues. Once Japan has succeeded in buying the
established, meetings will be held once or twice a year. votes that will give it control of the
International Whaling Commission
Further information regarding themes, agenda and the Group’s members (IWC) in a major step towards
will be available from the CoastNet website in due course. For interim bringing back commercial hunting of
information please contact Theresa Redding at whales.
theresa.redding@coastnet.org.uk Source: The Independent Online

● Polluting companies pay the

Partnership Forum All Party
gets to grips with Parliamentary
ICZM
This year’s Forum was a well attended
and enjoyable day with lively
discussions throughout. Sessions
centred around the consultation
document for ICZM recently prepared
by Defra with a specific focus on the
Group (APPG)
news
The next meeting of the APPG on
coastal and marine issues is set for
11 October 2006. Among the
attendees will be Ian Pearson,
price for fish deaths –
Companies across England and Wales
were fined and charged more than
£100,000 by magistrate courts in April
and May for pollution incidents which
killed more than 5,000 fish. The
prosecutions were brought by the
Environment Agency.
Source: www.fishupdate.com/news

● New species of hammerhead

role of Partnerships. There was also
discussion and feedback on the
proposed ICZM Options report by
Halcrow for the Environment Agency
and some ideas for an alternative
Option emerged. Presentations and
the report from this workshop will be
placed on the CoastNet website and
the online library at CoastWeb.
The recently set up Coastal
Partnerships Working Group was also
discussed at this Forum and further
details can be found in Groundworks
on page 11.
Minister of State for Climate Change
and the Environment. Themes for the
shark found in US waters –
meeting are yet to be determined but
A new species of hammerhead shark
it is very likely that the Marine Bill
has been discovered in the north-
and other marine policy issues will
western Atlantic off the coast of
be on the agenda. Check out the
South Carolina. The shark, which
CoastNet website for further
resembles a common species called
information when it becomes
the scalloped hammerhead, has yet
available.
to be classified or named.
Source: The Independent Online
If you wish to join the APPG or
attend the October meeting,
please contact Theresa Redding at
theresa.redding@coastnet.org.uk

4 The edge Summer 2006

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Expand your horizons with the launch of
CoastWeb – the unique, intelligent coastal
and marine portal – www.coastweb.info
June 29 saw the launch of a new and innovative coastal and marine portal, CoastWeb by CoastNet in conjunction
with the EU project, Corepoint. For the first time, coastal and marine professionals will be given an online, dynamic
resource that not only stores information but intelligently links this to other internal sources and to external sites.
Aimed at everyone with an interest in coastal and marine issues, the site promises to cut information searches from
hours to minutes with the use of its innovative web technology.

The uniqueness of the site comes with no central place to access such and marine community to ensure the
from the way CoastWeb’s technology information. CoastWeb is a user- site fulfils this huge potential by
links information, making cross- friendly, accessible site that has such adding their own documents and
thematic connections without users enormous potential to provide an all- building a great resource for
specifying this in their initial search. in-one, dynamic coastal and marine themselves and the rest of the
In this way, users are able to broaden resource. Now it’s up to the coastal community.”
their knowledge base in what would
otherwise be a complex and un-
connected mass of coastal and
marine information. The site is also
interactive with users being able to
add their own information through a
free registration process, adding to
the site’s ever-increasing knowledge
base.

CoastWeb is a multi-phased project.

Currently the site hosts an online
library of information and provides
an automated news service but
additional features such as a local
search facility is planned for Phase II.

Alex Midlen, Chair of CoastNet said

of CoastWeb: “Like many sectors, the
coastal and marine community
suffers from information-overload

www.coastweb.info
Check out the site and REGISTER NOW – IT’S FREE
Let CoastNet know how you find the site. Contact us at admin@coastnet.co.uk

The edge Summer 2006 5