The waters off the Berwickshire coast have long been considered special by marine biologists as they contain a fantastic abundance and diversity of marine life. Add to this clear waters and spectacular underwater scenery and it is not surprising that divers have been coming to the area for decades.

In the early days numbers were low, but word soon spread and by the 1970s there were concerns that increasing human activity might start to have an adverse effect on the wildlife. Initially divers banned themselves from taking a crab or lobster “for the pot” from around St Abbs and the Barefoot Marine Reserve was set up at Eyemouth by a local landowner. Then in 1984 local fishermen, divers and conservationists got together and decided to create St Abbs & Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve (VMR). This was the first reserve of its kind in the UK and, to this day, remains the only one in Scotland.

The VMR aims to balance the needs of the area’s marine life with the needs of recreation & traditional creel fishing. Protection of the marine life relies on educating people who use the area, promoting responsible behaviour and asking them to stick to a voluntary Code of Conduct.

6th October 2009
Splash In Images online
All the winning images from this year's Splash In have now been uploaded onto the website. And all the entries can be viewed on our Flickr page which you can access from the Splash In page of this website. Enjoy!

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9th August 2009
Still a few Ceilidh tickets left!
If you thought you'd missed out on getting tickets for the party of the Quarter Century, then don't dismay...there are still a handful left! The time 7.30 pm - Midnight, the place St Abbs Old School, the date Saturday 15th August. Contact Scoutscroft Dive Shop on (018907) 71669 or Aquastars on (018907) 50904.

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25th July 2009
I've been down to London to visit the...PM!
Marine Ranger, Liza, was honoured with an invitation to 10 Downing Street last week. Liza was one of 150 people invited from all over the country to attend a reception in celebration of the contribution that people make everyday in support of their local environmental wildlife projects and organisations.

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