Conservation The Lake District Coast Aquarium has been built at Maryport on the Solway Estuary and its displays and information content have strong links to the locality. Our ambition is very much one of creating an interest and awareness in Britain`s own special, amazing natural marine heritage through our aquarium. Partly through establishments such as this one, popular concern does eventually result in increasing pressure on local and national government to provide resources for the proper management and conservation of this and other similar areas. The Solway is a large shallow complex estuary formed by a variety of physical influences including glaciation, river erosion, sea-level change and geological barriers from hard rock outcrops. Of the few examples within Great Britain the Solway is the largest of this type. It is also one of the largest and least industrialised and most natural estuary systems in Europe. Located on the West Coast of Britain, it straddles the border between England and Scotland, forming an extensive system draining into the Irish Sea. The inner firth drains several rivers including Lochar Water, Kirtle Water, the Nith, Sark, Annan, Esk, Eden, Wampool and Waver. The Estuary system supports extensive areas of saltmarsh, both pioneer and Atlantic salt meadow, as well as large areas of intertidal mudflats and sandflats, and subtidal sandbanks each of which are of international importance in their own right. The Solway is a candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and the Upper Solway Flats and Marshes is a Special Protection Area (SPA). Within the aquarium itself we try and breed some of the species we display, with mixed success. It has to be said that fish like dogfish and rays will reproduce fairly easily if kept in a healthy condition, but other species whose offspring have a planktonic larval stage are much more difficult. We have managed to breed our seahorses to the point that the display is self sufficient, and are attempting to do the same with native pipefish which are closely related. There is no point trying to pretend we have the time or resources as a modest aquarium to be undertaking groundbreaking research. We are just dedicated to the welfare of our live exhibits and want to share as much of this enthusiasm as we can with the visiting public. We do have a small unit growing on lobsters from larvae, which can eventually be released back to the sea, but this is a demonstration of what can be done rather than a significant contribution.   Lake District Coast Aquarium, South Quay, Maryport, Cumbria CA15 8AB telephone: 01900 817760   email: info@ld-coastaquarium.co.uk     site map