Key areas covered by the marine bill
Among the many subjects covered by the marine bill, these are the key areas of interest;
- Marine Management Organisation
- Marine Planning
- Marine Licensing
- Marine Nature Conservation
- Fisheries Managment and Marine Enforcement
- Environmental Data and Information
- Migratory and Freshwater Fisheries
- Coastal Access
- Coastal and Estuary Management
Marine Management Organisation
The UK Government intends to set up a new Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to deliver many of our objectives for the marine area. The new organisation would be a centre of marine expertise, provide a consistent and unified approach, deliver improved coordination of information and data and reduce administrative burdens. The integration proposed would provide benefits from joined up delivery and economies of scale that could not be realised by placing those functions in separate organisations.
Marine Planning
We intend to create a strategic marine planning system that will clarify our marine objectives and priorities for the future, and direct decision-makers and users towards more efficient, sustainable use and protection of our marine resources. The first stage of this marine planning system should be the creation of a UK-wide marine policy statement to create a more integrated approach to marine management and setting both our short and longer-term objectives for sustainable use of the marine environment. It is then intended that the second stage will be the creation of a series of marine plans, which will implement the policy statement in specific areas, using information about spatial uses and needs in those areas.
Seabed mapping
Without a proper appreciation of the location of seabed resources and important features of nature conservation it is difficult to manage marine activities in a sustainable manner in order to achieve the aims of the Marine Bill. Seabed maps therefore provide a tool to help deliver integrated marine management.
Marine seabed maps provide fundamental information for the sustainable management of offshore resources. The ability to visualise a virtual seabed has led to significant interest in the use of maps for nature conservation, economic development and resolving conflicts of multiple impacts on the seafloor.
Work on seabed mapping is currently being undertaken by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas).
For examples of seabed maps, and further information see the Cefas website.
Marine Licensing
The changes that we propose to make to the marine licensing system are intended to result in better, more consistent licensing decisions delivered more quickly and at less cost to all by a system that is proportionate and easier to understand and to use. They will integrate delivery across a range of sectors and, through the creation of a marine management organisation and the functions it will perform, be a vital link in the chain from planning to enforcement. See the Marine Environment website for more information.
Marine Nature Conservation
Our aim is to introduce new tools for conservation of marine wildlife that together with existing ones can: halt the deterioration in the state of the UK’s marine biodiversity and promote recovery where practicable, support healthy functioning and resilient marine ecosystems, ensure environmental considerations are at the heart of decision-making processes, and provide mechanisms that can deliver current and future European and international conservation obligations. See the Marine Biodiversity pages for more information.
Fisheries Management and Marine Enforcement
We propose to strengthen fisheries and environmental management arrangements so that more effective action can be taken to conserve marine ecosystems and help achieve a sustainable and profitable fisheries sector. See the Fisheries management pages for more information.
Environmental Data and Information
Our proposals highlight the importance of high quality marine data and the need for a sound evidence base for making informed policy and management decisions. The creation of a MMO will provide a renewed focus and centre of expertise for the collection, storage and accessibility of up-to-date data and information relating to the marine area. The scale of information that the MMO will need to manage will range from a UK wide basis to very local issues. It will need scientific and environmental data as well as socio-economic data.
Migratory and Freshwater Fisheries
Our aim is to modernise powers for the management of salmon and freshwater fisheries. In particular we shall use the Marine Bill to reform the licensing system of fishing activities, byelaw making powers of the Environment Agency and authorisation scheme for the movement of live fish. This will enable the Agency to reduce overall exploitation of freshwater fish stocks, control potentially damaging movements of live fish and give greater flexibility when dealing with fisheries management issues. See the Migratory and Freshwater Fisheries pages for more information.
Coastal Access
The Government has decided to legislate to improve recreational access to the English Coast to improve open air recreation on foot to the English coast. The Marine Bill has been identified as the most appropriate means for introducing the legislation in draft. See the Landscape Protection, Recreation and Public Access pages for more information.
Coastal and Estuary Management
Current arrangements for coordinating activities in busy estuaries and other coastal areas can be complex and at times, inconsistent. There is no single overall piece of coastal legislation or management mechanism in the UK: on land, Local Authorities have a key responsibility for planning and at sea, management mainly falls to central government departments, who have traditionally followed a sectoral approach to managing activities in the marine area. It has long been thought that if we are to look at the coast in a more sustainable way, we should aim to improve coordination between these mechanisms and communication between all those with an interest in coastal issues. This is becoming more important as the proposals for a new system of marine planning are developed. We therefore need to ensure that there is coherence between these proposals and the different policies and management processes at work in coastal areas, i.e. that we have coastal integration or integrated coastal zone management. See the Integrated Coastal Zone Management web pages for more information.
Page last modified: 02 July 2008