1 Introduction
1. The United Kingdom's seas cover a vast area—three
times that of the land—and may contain half of the nation's
species.[1] They are also
important for our economy in providing opportunities for transport,
energy production (both from oil and gas and from renewable sources),
aggregates extraction, fishing and other industries. However,
there is clear evidence that marine ecosystems are increasingly
being damaged by human activities, both at sea and on land.[2]
Unlike on land, public understanding and perception of marine
environmental problems is constrained because people cannot easily
see the amount of damage that occurs.
2. There has been considerable discussion about the
efficacy of current efforts to protect the marine environment.
In 2001, John Randall MP introduced a Private Members' Bill which
aimed to address inadequacies of marine nature conservation. The
Bill attracted a certain amount of Government support. It passed
all its stages in the Commons but fell in the Lords. Previous
Parliamentary scrutiny has also highlighted shortcomings in marine
environmental protection. As a Committee, we have considered marine
environmental protection issues in the course of our inquiries
into reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and into cetacean by-catch.[3]
Our predecessor, the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs
Committee, in a report on UK biodiversity, concluded that
the Government must address the range of problems
and inadequacies in their approach to marine biodiversity. As
an island nation, the conservation of marine biodiversity should
be paramount and the Government should consider whether a new
statutory agency is required to deal with marine biodiversity
issues.[4]
3. Since then there have been a number of reviews
and, perhaps most importantly, the Government published its first
Marine Stewardship Report, which set out its intentions for the
marine environment.[5]
Therefore, we decided it would be timely to conduct an inquiry
into the marine environment and Government policies in relation
to it. Our terms of reference were
to examine the effectiveness and urgency with which
the Government is pursuing policies for the protection of the
marine environment, and what institutional or other barriers exist
which might hinder the implementation of policies in this area.
In particular the Committee will consider:
- the likely impact of designating Special Areas
of Conservation and Special Protection Areas linked with the Habitats
and Birds Directives; and the delay in doing so;
- the likely impact of introducing Strategic Environmental
Assessments; and
- the delay in identifying Marine Environment High
Risk Areas.
4. We received memoranda from 25 organisations and
individuals. During November and December 2003 and January 2004,
we took oral evidence from Wildlife and Countryside LINK, the
Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the UK Major Ports Group,
the British Ports Association, Professor John Gage, the Joint
Nautical Archaeology Committee, British Geological Survey and
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We also
spent a day in Southampton, where we visited the Southampton Oceanographic
Centre, the British Marine Aggregates Producers Association and
the Port of Southampton. We are most grateful to all those who
assisted us in our inquiry.
5. The issues surrounding marine environmental policy
are varied and complex. It has not been possible to address all
of them during this inquiry, but we believe that a number of key
themes have emerged. We have also considered some issues in greater
detail. Our report begins by describing problems that were identified
by our witnesses, and then examines some of the ways in which
the Government is addressing those problems. Finally, we consider
the solutions and further work that our witnesses advocate and
draw our conclusions. Illustrative examples are given throughout
the report.
1 Q1 Back
2
R.Covey and D. d'A. Laffoley, Maritime State of Nature Report
for England: getting onto an even keel (English Nature, Peterborough
2002), OSPAR Commission 2000 Quality Status Report 2000
(OSPAR Commission, London 2000) Back
3
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, First Report of
Session 2002-03, Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy,
HC 110, Third Report of Session 2003-04,Caught in the net:
by-catch of dolphins and porpoises off the UK coast, HC 88 Back
4
Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee, Twentieth
Report of Session 1999-2000, UK Biodiversity, HC 441, paragraph
54 Back
5
Defra, Safeguarding our Seas: a strategy for the conservation
and sustainable development of our marine environment, 2002 Back
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