Background information and geography
Allonby Bay Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMA) covers 27.6 km2 of the outer Solway Firth. The boundary follows the Mean High Water line along the shore, from the western most building of Bank End Farm, Maryport to Christ Church south of Allonby, and then extends seaward to approximately 5.6 km off the shore at its maximum width. The area is located within the 12 nm territorial sea limit of the Irish Sea region. It overlaps with Allonby Bay Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) and the Solway Firth Special Protection Area (SPA). This northwest facing bay is relatively sheltered and seawater temperatures range from 6°C in coldest months, to 16.5°C in late summer.
Allonby Bay HPMA has relatively high species abundance for the Irish Sea region. Over 200 species have been recorded in the boundary. The site consists of a complex mix of intertidal and subtidal muds, sand and rock, swept by strong currents and big tides. 15 broad scale habitats have been recorded in the site, such as sublittoral and intertidal sediments and circalittoral, infralittoral and intertidal rock.
In the intertidal the shore is dominated by mud and sand which are interspersed by outcrops of bedrock and glacially deposited boulders and cobbles. Blue mussel Mytilus edulis beds and honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata reefs provide habitat for crabs and other invertebrates. Several bird species also use these habitats to forage. The rocky habitats support a diverse range of seaweeds, crustaceans and molluscs that attach themselves to the stable surfaces. The sediment habitats are inhabited by burrowing animals including amphipod shrimps, a range of polychaete worms such as Scolelepis spp. and bivalve molluscs. These habitats provide important food for a wide range of bird species; and during high tide, various fish species including flatfish and juvenile cod Gadus morhua and whiting Merlangius merlangus which come in with the water to feed on them. Peat and clay deposits which become exposed in the intertidal are rare habitats found in Allonby Bay and are burrowed into by piddocks Barnea candida, known as ‘angel wings’ for the distinctive shape of their shells, whose burrows in turn provide shelter to other organisms.
Sediment and rock habitats extend below the low tide mark in the form of large areas of subtidal coarse sediment, which supports keelworms and venerid bivalves; subtidal sand and subtidal mixed sediments. Areas of subtidal rock may be colonised by honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolate which, along with blue mussels Mytilus edulis, form subtidal biogenic reefs. Subtidal rock also provides refuges which support commercial species such as common lobster Homarus Gammarus, edible crab Cancer pagurus, spawning thornback ray Raja clavate and bass Dicentrarchus labrax. These habitats also give Allonby Bay suitable conditions for sole Solea solea to spawn and make it suitable as a nursery area for cod Gadus morhua, herring Clupea harengus, plaice Pleuronectes platessa, sole Solea solea and thornback ray Raja clavate.
The area contains multiple species of national and international importance, recognised in the overlapping MCZ and SPA designations. Records show the presence of the ocean quahog Artica islandica which lives within subtidal sediment and is among the longest lived of animal species. The area is likely to support harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena and grey seal Halichoerus grypus.
19 bird species of conservation importance can be found in the area, including a wide range of seabirds and waders, for example guillemot Uria aalge, red-throated diver Gavia stellata, bar-tailed godwit Limosa lapponica and curlew Numenius arquata.
Habitats considered to be ‘blue carbon’ habitats which are long term stores of carbon can be found in the area, including intertidal sand, muddy sand and subtidal sand, which in total cover 13.0 km2 (47% of the site).
Site maps
Use the
MAGIC website
to see site maps, including habitats, species and other marine designations.
These maps are based on best available evidence, there are some caveats associated with the maps on MAGIC.
The dynamic nature of marine habitats is illustrated where data is available. As new evidence becomes available, these maps will be updated with our current knowledge of their known extent.
Site maps can also be viewed using The JNCC Marine Protected Area (MPA) mapper.
Feature Condition
In 2016, Natural England trialled and rolled out a new Marine Protected Area (MPA) condition assessment methodology that provides robust results and information on the condition of marine features designated within MPAs in England. With guidance from National teams and using all available evidence and condition monitoring data, Area Teams conduct these assessments following a standardised approach that assesses if the feature and sub feature conservation targets set for each MPA have been met.
To date, condition assessments have been completed for a number of features in a range of marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) by the National and Area Teams. Further marine habitat features in SACs and other MPAs will continue to be assessed in the future. The new method can now also be applied to complete habitat and species condition assessments for other MPAs in England, whilst still meeting the different processes in place to report on the results of condition of features in Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs). Different processes are currently in place to decide and report on the condition of non-marine habitat and species features of SACs.
The main part of the assessment process is directly undertaken and stored here on Natural England’s Designated Sites View.
The details for the most recent assessments of this site can be found here, if available.
As the feature of an HPMA is ‘the marine ecosystem of the area’ and the conservation objective is to achieve full recovery of the protected feature, monitoring the condition of an HPMA and whether the conservation objective is being achieved will require a different methodology to how Natural England currently undertakes condition assessment of Marine Protected Areas. The ecological monitoring of HPMAs for this pilot project will be informed by the ecological indicators developed in the HPMA Evaluation Framework. One of the aims of the pilot HPMA project is to improve our understanding of how best to monitor English HPMAs.
Management measures
If you are carrying out an environmental assessment, planning an operation or assessing an operation or proposal, it is important to consult with the following organisations where applicable. To find out if any management measures, byelaws or other restrictions apply to your activity you can use the following links for more information.
The Marine Management Organisation license, regulate and plan marine activities in the seas around England and Wales so that they’re carried out in a sustainable way. The MMO also provides fisheries guidance on
managing fishing in marine protected areas and how to
understand marine conservation byelaws.
The
Association of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities provides links to the regional IFCAs and advice on
Marine Protected Areas.
Environment Agency are responsible for regulating major industry and waste, water quality and resources, fisheries, inland river, estuary and harbour navigations, conservation and ecology.
Offshore Petroleum Regulator for the Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) regulates oil and gas, CCS and gas storage activities in the marine environment.