Chichester
May 30, 2022
HM 188. Chichester Harbour Conservancy is unlike any other harbour I have visited.
The clue is in the name - as is the harbour's website www.conservancy.co.uk. The emphasis is on protecting the natural beauty of this remarkable place and all the normal jobs of a harbour authority e.g. safety of navigation, dredging, managing moorings and enforcing bye-laws are done with conservation in mind.
An incredible 11,500 boats pay to be moored in the vast harbour. Spread over five "fingers" of water, boats are tucked away on moorings or in marinas in every corner. In addition thousands of dinghies are sailed here not to mention the kayaks, canoes and stand up paddle boards. Sailing into the harbour is like walking into a Trafalgar Square of sailing.
Harbour Master Richard Craven has a large workforce of 50 reflecting the range of work he has to do. Richard's background of a commercial fisherman and then a Fisheries Protection Officer is not unusual. What is unusual is that his job is not just on the water but over thousands of acres of land as well. He has more "environmental" staff than marine staff. They oversee the whole Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty together with dozens of other agencies. It is complicated but it works.
The area is stunning - if a little difficult to photograph! Managing seagrass beds, salt marshes and oyster beds all come under Richard's broad hat. He told me he never thought an HM job would include "trawling" for micro plastics, but when the results showed that there were 10,000 micro fibres in every litre of water sampled, he realised why his oysters were not surviving.
Little of this work you can see from a boat - but what you do see is an "easy access" harbour entrance, some beautiful sandy beaches (West Wittering is a very popular holiday spot), a vast protected sailing area and some ancient villages such as Bosham.
Thank you Richard and let's hope this very special place on the Sussex Hampshire border remains beautiful and protected.
The clue is in the name - as is the harbour's website www.conservancy.co.uk. The emphasis is on protecting the natural beauty of this remarkable place and all the normal jobs of a harbour authority e.g. safety of navigation, dredging, managing moorings and enforcing bye-laws are done with conservation in mind.
An incredible 11,500 boats pay to be moored in the vast harbour. Spread over five "fingers" of water, boats are tucked away on moorings or in marinas in every corner. In addition thousands of dinghies are sailed here not to mention the kayaks, canoes and stand up paddle boards. Sailing into the harbour is like walking into a Trafalgar Square of sailing.
Harbour Master Richard Craven has a large workforce of 50 reflecting the range of work he has to do. Richard's background of a commercial fisherman and then a Fisheries Protection Officer is not unusual. What is unusual is that his job is not just on the water but over thousands of acres of land as well. He has more "environmental" staff than marine staff. They oversee the whole Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty together with dozens of other agencies. It is complicated but it works.
The area is stunning - if a little difficult to photograph! Managing seagrass beds, salt marshes and oyster beds all come under Richard's broad hat. He told me he never thought an HM job would include "trawling" for micro plastics, but when the results showed that there were 10,000 micro fibres in every litre of water sampled, he realised why his oysters were not surviving.
Little of this work you can see from a boat - but what you do see is an "easy access" harbour entrance, some beautiful sandy beaches (West Wittering is a very popular holiday spot), a vast protected sailing area and some ancient villages such as Bosham.
Thank you Richard and let's hope this very special place on the Sussex Hampshire border remains beautiful and protected.