UK marine science and monitoring
"Charting progress: an integrated assessment of the state of UK seas"
Background
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The image above links to
the Charting Progress report in pdf  -
NB this is a very large file (4.8 MB). See note below
on downloading large pdf files |
The Government's vision for clean, safe, healthy, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas is outlined in the first Marine Stewardship Report "Safeguarding our Seas", published in May 2002. The Government made a commitment in this report to produce an integrated assessment of UK waters to help gauge if we are achieving our vision.
Prepared jointly by Defra, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the devolved administration in Northern Ireland on behalf of the United Kingdom Government, this report illustrates the extent to which the seas round the UK continental shelf meet the vision.
Why do we need the report?
Charting Progress is a step towards adopting an ecosystem approach to managing the impact of human activities on the marine environment. It brings together the results of our marine monitoring programmes in order to provide the best assessment we can currently make of the waters around the shores of the UK (see map).
(Click on the map to open a larger version in a new browser window)
Producing the report.
The work for the report has been completed in four stages
Stage 1
Four sector reports covering the main themes were prepared by government agencies and advisors.
Note: because of the graphical nature of some the
contents, we regret that most of the following documents are very large
files. You are advised to download the files to your computer rather than
opening the files via your web browser - you should consult the information
on our Help page about downloading or reading
Adobe Acrobat
documents.
1. Marine
Environment Quality
(7.5 MB)
2. Marine
Processes and Climate
(7.4 MB)
3. Marine
Habitats and Species
(9.7 MB)
4. Marine
Fish and Fisheries
(1.5 MB)
Stage 2
The result of drawing together the individual sector reports for each
of 8 Regional Areas was the Integrated
Regional Assessment
(8.6 MB)
Stage 3
Each of the sector reports and the Integrated Regional Assessments were
peer
reviewed by independent experts from outside Government.
(10 KB)
Stage 4 - "Charting Progress"
The Government prepared the summary: "Charting Progress: An Integrated Assessment of the State of UK Seas". This draws on the comprehensive sectoral and regional reports which will need to be referred to in order to see the detailed evidence which underlies the assessments given in the report.
A full copy of the report, "Charting Progress: An Integrated
Assessment of the State of UK Seas", can
be downloaded
(4.8 MB)
Alternatively, the final Chapter 6: Integrated Assessment the Status
of the Seas is available
separately
(55 KB)
What does it tell us?
The key messages are set out in Table 6.1 of Charting Progress where a "traffic light" system has been used to indicate whether progress is acceptable, unacceptable or has room for improvement: The picture is mixed.
- UK seas are productive, supporting a wide range of fish, mammals, seabirds and other marine life.
- The open seas are generally not affected by pollution and levels of monitored contaminants have decreased significantly.
- The main contamination problems identified are in part due to the legacy of the past and are generally observed at higher levels in industrialised estuaries or areas local to the activity.
- Human activity has already resulted in adverse changes to marine life and continues to do so, for example, continued widespread commercial fishing practices threaten many fish stocks by over-exploitation and damage sea floor areas.
- Evidence exists that the marine ecosystem is being altered by climate change, for example for example sea temperatures are rising and the distribution of plankton species is changing. These effects are not yet well understood.
Generally the evidence summarised in this report, derived mainly from existing monitoring programmes, is insufficient to enable an assessment to be made of the status of many elements of the marine ecosystem. However even with the current gaps in information we are confident that the major threats and issues have been identified
Where to next?
Charting Progress has highlighted a number of gaps both in our knowledge and understanding of the seas and in our arrangements for gathering and co-ordinating information.
The report will directly assist with the development and evaluation of policy and in particular forms a sound basis for taking forward the ecosystem-based approach to the management of our seas.
With successful cooperation between the many agencies, research institutions and other bodies concerned it will be possible to achieve our vision for 'clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse' seas.
Collation of data and information from various monitoring initiatives is currently underway, under the auspices of the UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy, to feed into a second integrated assessment of the state of the marine environment as required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. It is anticipated that the Charting Progress 2 Report will be published in 2010.
Page last modified:
15 July 2008
Page published: 01 March 2005