BLUE Legal

The Blue Legal unit advocates for the proper establishment and enforcement of maritime laws.

Two significant legal victories have been achieved concerning activities within marine protected areas (MPAs). In 2021, Blue Legal led a coalition of environmental and angling groups at a public inquiry into the cooling system of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the west of England, and its impact on the marine ecosystem. The operation of the plant is set to abstract and discharge large amounts of water, significantly altering its temperature and potentially harming marine life. As a result of legal pressure, the developers have agreed to undertake environmental compensation measures to offset the damage. In 2022, Blue Legal successfully urged UK authorities to close off to harmful fishing activities the North Sea’s Dogger Bank and other offshore MPAs. Fishing restrictions were put in place for 12,000 sq. km of the UK’s portion of the Dogger for the first time in hundreds of years. Our legal efforts also include ongoing complaints to the European Commission against Germany and the Netherlands for inadequate management of the Dogger Bank.  

While many of Blue Legal’s activities remain confidential, our team strives to provide open access to legal advice where possible, such as through academic papers on our work. Our approach is to support governmental institutions, only resorting to court action when necessary to effect change.  

In 2023, the team expanded while continuing to collaborate with external specialists. Notably, legal action was taken against the UK government for granting fishing quotas that exceed scientific recommendations, establishing the principle that the fishery belongs to the public, and necessitating responsible management by the government. 

Building on past successes, Blue Legal aims to extend its efforts to other European jurisdictions, particularly in addressing fisheries management and environmental impacts. Projects include addressing complaints against the EU distant water fleet; supporting legislative drafting in the Dutch Caribbean; ensuring compliance of salmon farming with environmental laws; and advising on MPA legislation in Ireland. These actions are guided by thorough legal research, with reports disseminated widely among stakeholders.  

Expanding its reach in 2024, Blue Legal published two research papers: one investigating the effectiveness of environmental law in the EU; another signalling poor quota allocation in the UK and other jurisdictions (quota being the key conservation measure for sustainable fishing). 

It is on the strength of our past research that we have been involved in the significant legal proceedings. We are also working on two complaints in international legal forums for breaches of conservation law. 

Blue Legal has given guidance on marine management to our team in-house, and supported fellow environment groups. The impacts of open-pen aquaculture in Scotland and Greece increasingly concern us, following our involvement with the Seas of Change Conference at Poros in April 2024, and the proposed rapid expansion of Greek aquaculture. 

We now collaborate with nine major law firms in London, Brussels and Greece as well as the One Million Hours project.  Their expertise has enabled us to examine areas such as subsidy, competition law and state aid, which have profound consequences for the natural world. We also hosted our first event at Somerset House in London, with Professor Steve Simpson of Bristol University exploring the different approaches of law and science. 

In 2024, Blue Marine went to the High Court in London, accompanied by inshore fishermen, to challenge the UK government for setting fishing opportunities higher than scientists advise. The continued exploitation of key commercial species – such as cod, pollack and mackerel – is causing an ecological crisis in UK waters, and decimating the livelihoods of its inshore fishing fleet.