Memorandum 38
Submission from the Institute of Marine
Engineering Science and Technology (IMarEST)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Following a description of IMarEST, the submission
outlines the importance of the oceans as a resource and the significance
of government in promoting coordination of marine research. In
answer to the questions posed by the committee the response stresses
that:
— There are gaps in our fundamental
scientific knowledge of climate variability
— There is a need for coordination
and funding of sustained marine measurements
— Priorities must be defined for marine
measurements
— There is a need for investment in
biological sciences and increased support for UK marine biotechnology
— It is imperative that the UK increases
its support for the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
— Marine Science education must be
supported and developed in schools
— There is potential value in the designation
of marine areas as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI's)
or Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
ABOUT IMAREST
The IMarEST is the international professional
membership organisation and learned society for all marine professionals
working in marine, coastal and offshore environments and supporting
industries. The Institute, based in London, was originally formed
in 1889 as the professional body for marine engineers and is today
the overarching body bringing together professionals from across
all the marine disciplines. The IMarEST currently has over 15,000
members with around half based in the United Kingdom. The IMarEST's
role is to promote the scientific development and inter-disciplinary
understanding for Marine Science, Engineering and Technology and
to uphold and advance the knowledge of professionals across the
international marine community.
The IMarEST Technical Affairs Committee was
formed to establish clear technical views and policies on global
marine matters and to bring these views to the attention of the
members of the IMarEST, relevant government, industry, regulatory
bodies, educational and professional bodies and the general public
in appropriate cases. The Committee consists of experts in many
areas such as Climatology, Oceanography and Marine Meteorology,
Ports and Harbours, Naval Engineering and Living Resources.
THE IMPORTANCE
OF THE
OCEANS AND
OF MARINE
SCIENCE
1. The oceans are of vital importance to society;
— As a fundamental driver of weather
and climate
— As a source of vast hydrocarbon energy
resources (oil and gas)
— As a future source of renewable energy
(wind, wave and tide)
— As a critical source of minerals,
food and chemicals.
— With a major role in transport, world
trade, communications and recreation.
2. With increasing multiple uses of the
oceans and a move towards planning systems similar to those seen
on land it is imperative that a marine science evidence base is
developed which can be utilised by the UK government to provide
fact based decision making tools for policy makers.
3. Planned policy development ie The Marine
Bill, The European Marine Strategy and the European Maritime Policy
provides an opportunity for UK Government to act as a coordinated
customer for the science it funds. The Marine Bill will no doubt
place DEFRA at the forefront as a customer. However, it is essential
that UK government as a whole is committed to understanding, commissioning
and coordinating marine science for its policy and operational
needs. For example, marine science can be used to make improvements
to efficiency and safety of shipping through improved weather
forecasting for ship routing (Department for Transport), and provide
support for the offshore energy industry by, for example, providing
evidence of the benefits of disposing of obsolete rigs as a reefs
(DTI). The Interagency Committee for Marine Science and Technology
(IACMST) provides a vital role in bringing together the departments.
It also essential that industry is also engaged with government
and the scientific community.
4. Stronger linkages between the scientists,
industry and policy makers in setting priorities and goals for
marine science are critical to integrated ocean planning and management.
5. To sustain the vital resources provided
by the oceans, stewardship of the marine environment must be promoted
and reinforced at all levels of government. Government must promote
the message that the health of the oceans rests with the entire
community. To ensure this government must be committed to broadening
its acceptance of the duty of care for marine heritage and to
promoting marine science education for all.
Q1. Organisation and funding of UK marine
science in the polar and non-polar regions
CLIMATE CHANGE
6. The executive summary of the POST report
128, July 1999 highlighted the main objectives of a national strategy
for Marine Science and Technology up until around 2020. These
were: environmental protection, exploitation of ocean resources,
national defence, prediction of climate change and its effects,
marine technology and statutory and regulatory obligations. It
may be prudent to assume that these objectives have not changed
over the last 7 years but there is now more scientific evidence
available to us in order to be able to prioritise these goals
logically.
7. Described as "mankind's greatest
threat" and "the ultimate weapon of mass destruction"
there is global acceptance we must act now to mitigate and adapt
to climate change. However, it should not be forgotten that significant
gaps still exist in our fundamental scientific knowledge. How
the oceans influence natural climate variability and long term
anthropogenic change and how these changes impact on the oceans
are still not well understood. The formation of the Marine Climate
Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) was a positive step towards
coordinating UK Marine Climate Change research and activity and
should be supported.
8. The 1st annual MCCIP report card highlighted
the significant gaps in our scientific knowledge, including the
impact of changes in, and on, ocean salinity, potential changes
to storminess and waves, the effect of climate change on large
scale oceanic processes, the impact on fish and marine mammals
and changes to seabed ecology. Knowledge of the impact of climate
change on commercial activities is also limited, which means we
don't know what the implications of climate change are for shipping,
ports, offshore structure design criteria and effects on aquaculture.
CO-ORDINATION
OF MARINE
MEASUREMENTS
9. Measurements of the open ocean are essential
for a thorough understanding of weather and climate. It is somewhat
counterintuitive that ocean observations are therefore vital for
land activities such as agriculture, forestry, water supplies,
energy supplies, construction and transportation. It is more widely
appreciated that ocean temperature, currents and salinity have
profound effects on marine ecosystems. The effectiveness of marine
climate services is dependent on the quality of the network that
delivers the basic observational data, alongside the forecasting
and prediction models and a delivery system which allows effective
use by end users and policy makers.
10. These basic requirements underlie the
case for a Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) that will be the
marine component of the proposed Global Earth Observing System
of Systems (GEOSS), the call for which is supported by the G8.
As has been made plain in 2005/6 by IACMST, the requisite network
of ocean observations in and adjacent to UK waters and in areas
of interest to the UK is not yet in place, depriving the UK information
end user community of value, and causing the UK to lag behind
other nations in its commitments to both the GOOS and the GEOSS.
11. UK marine science needs to be organised
in a more coherent fashion, through a plan agreed by all departments
and agencies, to ensure (i) that value is added by each observation
made, (ii) that duplication of effort is avoided, and (iii) that
gaps in geographic coverage or in technology are filled. To meet
the fundamental needs of a diverse information user community
the UK needs to improve the flow of information from both the
open ocean and the coastal ocean.
12. It is essential that the UK commits
to long term funding of ocean and coastal observations.
Continued development also is required in advanced
numerical models of the ocean, the ocean-ice-atmosphere system,
and the ocean ecosystem. The UK government needs to recognise
that processes in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans drive the climate
system and as such, should invest more in studying the nature
and variability of these processes. It is imperative that measurement
and monitoring funded by the UK as contributions to the International
Polar Year are sustainable and not simply seen as short term research
projects.
THE UK CONTRIBUTION
TO MARINE
MEASUREMENT—SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES
13. The UK should commit to (in order of
importance)
Open Ocean
— Deployment of 45+ Argo profiling
floats per year to contribute to the global network of subsurface
ocean data for ocean and climate models
— Maintenance of the Atlantic Meridional
Transect (A programme which undertakes biological, chemical and
physical oceanographic research during the annual return passage
of the RRS James Clark Ross between the UK and the Falkland Islands
or the RRS Discovery between the UK and Cape Town)
— Maintenance of the national tide
gauge network
— Support for the expansion of the
continuous plankton recorder programme
— Collection of Carbon Dioxide data
from ships drifting buoys and transects
— Collation of a Met Office buoy with
and Porcupine Abyssal Plain subsurface mooring
— Deployment of additional drifting
buoys outside the North Atlantic, and sea ice buoys, especially
in both polar regions
— Digitising the historical collections
of ocean data in the National Archive (Kew)
Coastal Ocean
— Repeated hydrographic survey lines
across the UK margin to establish regional properties and change
— Creation of a coastal HF radar network
to obtain wave and current data
— Increasing the geographical and vertical
coverage of measurements of plankton, nutrients, dissolved oxygen
and organic matter, and total suspended matter
— Investment in advanced numerical
models used to determine the best locations for observations to
be made and to establish where there is redundancy, duplication
and where more measurements are needed
— Deployment of sampling equipment
on many ferry lines
14. Nationally consistent monitoring and
data gathering must be coordinated at a central government level
with an appropriate level of funding. To gain full benefit the
quality controlled data gathered by the UK must be made readily
available within the framework of the EU Inspire Directive and
UK commitments to other international data exchange initiatives.
THE NEED
FOR INVESTMENT
IN BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES
15. Whereas funding of oceanography is significant
for climate change impact studies, the biological sciences should
not be forgotten. It is fair to say that there is shrinking budget
for fisheries research, and for marine biodiversity studies. While
the UK Marine Bill will no doubt feature heavily the policy goals
of obtaining "healthy, biologically diverse seas" there
is little idea of what constitutes "healthy" and "diverse".
This difficulty will be compounded by directives from Europe requiring
the UK to achieve good ecological status, something which, again,
is difficult to define.
COORDINATION OF
UK RESEARCH
16. Oceans 2025 is an excellent initiative
that, with £120 million in funding over five years, should
greatly improve the coordination of marine scientific research
within the UK. However, there are concerns about over-reliance
on "government labs" (ie NERC labs and fisheries labs)
to deliver all the marine science required. The government-funded
labs have to deliver specific research for government, eg data
for Europe on fish stocks, and water quality, but are increasingly
having to find "consultancy" type work to make ends
meet. This tends to reduce their opportunities for novel, questions-driven
marine research of the kind that is commonly found in university
departments. Any decline in fundamental research, whether in government
or university labs, will be detrimental, in the long term, to
the standing of the UK in the global marine science arena.
17. Finally, it is the view of the marine
scientific industry, that there is strong evidence that much of
the £100 million spent by government to create spin-off companies
has been ineffective. Many of the marine technology transfer offices
set up by academic organizations are excessively bureaucratic
and barely cover their own costs. The current scheme which encourages
and funds academics to exploit their research and technology is
often ineffective and can even be damaging to existing businesses
where unfair competition may be the result. Nevertheless it is
recognized that good ideas for exploitable technologies do arise
in academic and government labs; ideally these labs should be
encouraged to work in partnership with industry to "design
for manufacture", so as to make their inventions saleable.
18. As an enthusiastic supporter of commercial
exploitation the government should engage more with the private
sector in order to make a true commercial success of technology
transfer.
2. The role of the UK internationally, and
international collaboration in marine science
19. The UK makes a contribution to the management
of, and observations for, Global Ocean Observing System that underpins
weather and climate forecasting worldwide. At present the GOOS
is only around 50% developed. Therefore, the UK's investment in
observations should be doubled to meet the increasing requirement
for detailed and accurate information in support of global sustainable
development, as called for by the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, 2002. Observations are needed in particular in remote
locations, especially in polar seas that are difficult to access.
The UK must continue shared funding of the European Space Agency's
(ESA) programme of measurements of the open ocean and increase
funds to ESA for new sensors (eg salinity).
20. The UK should take a stronger lead in
supporting international operational observations of the oceans.
Especially important in the context of climate forecasting is
maintenance of the network of satellite altimeters which make
crucial observations of ocean circulation. At present there is
a critical gap between existing missions (which are near to the
end of their design lives) and replacement missions (which are
not scheduled for launch until 2013).
21. The UK also plays a key role in influencing
the directions taken by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission, the main international body for marine science and
lead agency for the GOOS.
22. The UK marine science community should
play a stronger role in the work of the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) which is the only UN agency based in the UK.
The community should provide more effective support to the UK
delegation from the Department for Transport and the UK's interests
represented by a number of Non Governmental Organisations including
the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. The
IMO strives to achieve both improved maritime safety and environmental
protection which must be backed by sound science and requires
a much more joined up approach between government departments.
Of particular relevance are the issues of invasive species, ship
emissions and ship recycling.
23. The UK must take a lead in developing
"green" ship technologies. It must develop a stronger
capability for recycling and environmentally friendly decommissioning
and recycling of ships. The development of decision support systems
for the management of ballast water and associated treatment techniques
to minimise the transfer of alien species must be encouraged.
However, of utmost importance is the engagement of the Marine
Science community in areas broader than their specific area of
research.
3. Support for marine science, including provision
and development of technology and engineering
24. The ocean is like outer space—an
environment that is difficult and costly to reach and hostile
to work in. It has the added disadvantage that it is largely non-transparent
beyond depths of around 100 meters. As a consequence we know far
less about the bottom of the sea than we do about the surface
of Mars, which has been photographed in detail. We also know very
little about life in the sea beyond the sunlit zone, yet it seems
highly likely, given that there are many more phyla in the ocean
than on land, that the prospects of finding medically useful chemical
compounds there is more or less unlimited. The sea is a biotechnological
frontier waiting to be exploited. Discovery and exploitation demand
novel technologies. As in outer space, scientists are limited
in what they can do without technological assistance. Ocean science
is blind without ocean technology.
25. Of significance perhaps is the omission
of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and genetic resources from the
POST report of 1999. This demonstrates how rapidly this area is
developing. UK government must realise the potential of marine
biotechnology industries and provide a similar level of backing
to that typical of terrestrial biotechnology industries. There
is potential for marine biotechnological products to be used as
anti-cancer agents, for bulk chemicals such as adhesives, for
feed additives for aquaculture, and for remediation of environmental
damage. The completion of the NERC funded Marine and Freshwater
Microbial Biodiversity (M&FMB) programme (2000-05) leaves
a potential gap in linkages between industry participants and
research providers. A five year funding timescale for such projects
is unsuitable due to the lack of understanding of new products
(by both governments and potential users) and the long lead times
for screening, testing and development. It is estimated that the
UK currently supports 93 % of the publicly funded bioscience companies
in Europe of which most are predominantly terrestrial based. This
is an industry which should received continued support to expand
into marine research.
4. The state of the UK research and skills
base underpinning marine science and provision and skills to maintain
and improve the UK's position in marine science
26. There exists a general difficulty in
persuading students to follow a career in science and technology
and in particular the marine sciences. The UK is still affected
by the so called "Cousteau Effect" (or what might nowadays
be termed the "Attenborough Effect"") with large
number of people wishing to study Marine Biology as opposed to
the physical sciences. However, universities are constantly struggling
to bring in students with the right level of numerical skills
now needed for the biological sciences (such is the integration
of ecosystem modelling). Although the UK government is committed
to promoting science and engineering in schools (following the
Roberts report, 2002), how marine science fits into the picture
is unclear. Marine science is typically integrated into the geography
syllabus, or even, citizenship, as opposed to being incorporated
into the traditional sciences. This is something that government
should seek to review.
27. Alongside a review into the correct
place for marine science education, more attention is needed to
increase teacher confidence in teaching "unusual subjects"".
This could be done through an emphasis on training in marine subjects
and the development of appropriate teaching materials with practical
applications. The UK government must also seek to support careers
initiatives in Marine Science, Engineering and Technology. It
is vital that school aged children are aware of the heritage aspects
of the marine environment in order to understand their duty of
care towards its protection.
28. At a higher education level training
provision is currently lagging behind employer need. IMarEST is
discussing with IACMST how to identify these and similar future
needs, and what strategies should be implemented to meet them;
we suggest more effort should be focused on this issue.
29. Streamlining and reorganisation in recent
decades have pared the UK's oceanographic research base to the
bone. What he have left is a hard core that could form the nucleus
of a programme expanded to provide added value for the wide UK
users of ocean information (which includes the land sectors mentioned
above). A better developed UK marine science base could support
an expanded UK marine information sector that could form the basis
for an expanded UK marine services sector. Given the inevitable
decline in North Sea service requirements over time, as oil wells
dry up, developing a more outwardly directed UK marine services
sector at this time would seem wise, along with an expanded skills
and research base to serve its needs. As an island nation, it
would be surprising and unfortunate if the UK did not exploit
its maritime knowledge to the full in this way.
5. Use of marine sites of special scientific
interest
30. It is first imperative to decide whether
a site is being designated as a site of special scientific interest
or a marine protected area as each will be subject to different
legislation (ie Wildlife and Countryside Act versus a Marine Bill).
There is also confusion with sites being defined as particularly
sensitive seas areas by the IMO.
31. SSSI's are a very poor tool for the
delivery of conservation in marine areas (including the intertidal
area) and the proposed Marine Bill provides the opportunity to
develop a more appropriate and effective regime for the UK marine
area.
32. In an integrated management regime a
site, whether an SSS or an MPA, should have a regime that delivers
multiple benefits to society. So, for example, if a site is designated
due to the presence of an historic wreck, but is also then a fish
nursery, then the management plan should take this into consideration,
which may actually reduce the need to designate an additional
area for the protection of the fish habitat ie explicit consideration
of multiple management objectives should lead to fewer protected
areas and a lower total area under "high protection"
than if each objective were pursued in isolation.
33. It is vital that economic and social
factors should be taken into account and they should be a fundamental
inclusion. Underlying principles must be properly implemented.
There should not be a presumed preference for conservation; all
considerations should include economic and social requirements
in equal measures. This is required to meet the government's objectives
of sustainable development.
DISCLAIMER
The information provided represents the views
of the IMarEST Technical Affairs Committee and not necessarily
the views of the IMarEST membership as a whole.
The IMarEST Marine Voices campaign provides
the platform of opportunity for professionals to discuss and exchange
ideas and practices, and promotes the scientific development of
marine engineering, science and technology
May 2007
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