Conclusions and recommendations
1. In view of the delays in concluding the Review
of Development in Marine and Coastal Waters, the Marine Environment
High Risk Areas exercise and other initiatives, and given the
need for urgent action, the Government should immediately publish
a timetable for the delivery of the reviews and other initiatives
it has underway. (Paragraph 41)
2. The Government should review the international
agreements on the marine environment to which the United Kingdom
is a signatory to ensure that they are not just fine words but
that they contain practical measures that contracting parties
will implement. (Paragraph 42)
3. As soon as possible after the conclusion of
the two marine reviews now underway, the Government should produce
a paper outlining what changes are needed to the present regime,
and to what extent these changes can be made within the framework
of existing legislation. If the changes cannot be made within
the existing framework, the Government should publish a consultation
paper exploring the desirability of a Marine Act. (Paragraph 43)
4. At present, the different Departments involved
do not appear to have a common approach to sustainable development
in the marine environment and there is no formal arrangement allowing
them to come together. Given the complexity of this area of policy,
the Government should put in place a clearly defined co-ordinating
mechanism to bring together, on a regular basis, the key parties
with a role in protecting the marine environment. Ideally, there
should be a Cabinet sub-committee to deal with marine issues.
The Government should consider whether a co-ordinating agency
should be established to ensure that the links are made between
all the many activities that may affect the marine environment.
(Paragraph 44)
5. We are particularly concerned that there is
insufficient knowledge of the effects of deep sea trawling on
marine ecosystems and in particular on the sea bed. Additional
research to improve our knowledge of such effects needs to be
undertaken urgently in order to be able to reach a conclusion
about what restrictions on deep sea trawling might be desirable.
(Paragraph 45)
6. We recommend that the Defra produce a paper
detailing how the marine stewardship and ecosystem approach outlined
in Safeguarding our Seas will be delivered in practice and by
what mechanisms the often competing demands of habitat protection
and expanding marine industries and energy extraction will be
reconciled. (Paragraph 46)
7. On land, people can see the impact of human
activity on the environment, but at sea, pollution, damage to
fish stocks, degradation of habitats and declines in biodiversity
are less immediately apparent. As a result, concern is often restricted
to those individuals and bodies that have a keen and direct interest
in the oceans and public pressure for urgent action may be lacking.
Furthermore we know comparatively little about what impact we
have on the sea and conclusive evidence may only come when the
damage is irreparable. Government, then has a particular responsibility
to take the initiative to protect our oceans and to act with all
urgency. (Paragraph 47)
8. While we welcome the Strategic Environmental
Assessment Directive, and commend the Department of Trade and
Industry's early work on implementing it, we share our witnesses'
concerns that adequate assessment and mitigation of the cumulative
impacts of different activities is still lacking. Unlike the situation
on land, where a single Department—the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister—has responsibility for planning issues, development
at sea is regulated by many Departments and agencies. It is possible
that marine spatial planning could overcome these problems, but
it is not yet clear how such planning would work in practice.
In particular, we see limited use for a plan that ignores shipping
and fishing, areas which are outside the Government's direct control.
The powers and remit of any planning authority would need to be
carefully framed to ensure that any plan drawn up could be implemented
in practice. Wherever in Government the authority was based, it
would need to ensure that the concerns of all users of the sea
were taken into account. (Paragraph 54)
9. The Government must ensure that it makes best
use of the scientific expertise and knowledge within United Kingdom
institutions. We recommend that Defra encourage collaborative
research between fisheries scientists and those researching the
wider marine ecosystem. The Government should also examine the
future funding of marine science to ensure that centres of excellence
in marine research can continue their work. (Paragraph 55)
10. The survey work undertaken as part of the
DTI's Strategic Environmental Assessment exercise is welcome,
as is the Government's promise to make the resulting data freely
available. However, the Government should consider funding further
geological, hydrographic and biological survey work to better
inform selection of protected areas and marine ecosystem management.
(Paragraph 56)
11. Effective management of existing information
is as important as collecting new data. We recommend that Defra
draw up proposals for a harmonised management system for data
held by publicly funded research institutions and consult on these
as soon as possible. (Paragraph 57)
12. TThe episode of the Darwin Mounds showed
the limitations of the Habitats Directive in protecting special
features of the offshore environment. Although we understand that
the European Commission may address some of the problems in its
thematic strategy, which is due to be published in 2005, we urge
Government to begin immediate work with the Commission to ensure
the Habitats Directive covers all necessary species and habitats,
to strengthen protection of the marine environment and to ensure
that conflicts between the demands of the Directive and of the
Common Fisheries Policy are resolved as a matter of urgency. In
the meantime, the Government should report on the effectiveness
of conservation measures for marine species that are not protected
under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives. (Paragraph 58)
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