In brief: A new government progress report confirms that law drafting work is under way to create a no-take fishing zone at Les Sauvages, as part of Jersey’s Marine Spatial Plan. The plan now has 57 priorities active, representing around 63% of agreed actions, with 21.7% of Jersey’s territorial waters now protected from dredging and trawling.
The Marine Spatial Plan Takes Shape
More than a year after Jersey’s Marine Spatial Plan was formally adopted, the Government has published its first annual progress report, offering a detailed look at how the island’s ambitions for protecting its marine environment are being turned into reality. The Marine Spatial Plan Annual Progress Report 2025 shows 57 priorities now active, covering roughly 63% of the agreed actions under the strategy.
The headline figure is a striking one: as of last month, 21.7% of Jersey’s territorial waters are now protected from dredging and trawling. That is a substantial leap from the previous figure of just 6.5%, representing a meaningful expansion of the island’s network of Marine Protected Areas. For an island whose identity is so closely tied to the sea, whether through fishing, tourism or simply the view from St Brelade’s Bay on a clear morning, that is a number worth pausing on.
Les Sauvages: The Next No-Take Zone
One of the more significant items in the report concerns plans for a no-take zone at Les Sauvages. The Marine Spatial Plan describes no-take zones as offering “the highest possible level of protection, where all fishing and the removal of any aquatic resources (defined as any living creature, plant or seaweed) are forbidden.” The report marks the Les Sauvages designation as “in progress”, a status reserved for priorities where work is under way with “clear evidence of advancement.”
According to the Jersey Evening Post, the report states that an updated baseline survey is planned for 2026, and that legislative drafting is also scheduled for that year to support the formal designation. The boundary of the zone will be determined following a review of evidence against agreed criteria.
This follows the precedent set at Portelet Bay, where in 2022 States Members backed proposals from then-Environment Minister John Young to introduce Jersey’s first no-take zone. The MSP progress report confirms that Portelet Bay will continue to be monitored, including an assessment of damage to the seabed from what the report describes as “current anchoring practices.” That is a polite way of noting that even protected areas are not immune to the habits of visiting boaters.
Broader Progress Across the Plan
Beyond the headline no-take zone work, the report points to several other completed milestones. These include the conclusion of an inshore netting review and the implementation of revised technical and spatial regulations arising from it. Management plans for Jersey’s four designated Ramsar sites, internationally recognised wetlands of ecological importance, have also been published.
Taken together, the progress report paints a picture of steady, if unglamorous, administrative work: surveys, legislative drafting, boundary reviews and management plans. It is the kind of incremental effort that rarely makes the front page but underpins any serious long-term environmental strategy. Whether the momentum holds, and whether the 2026 legislative drafting timetable is met, will be the real test.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
