MMO ‘This is a follow on to the previous Evidence Requirement R090 Impacts of non-licensable activities on Marine Protected Areas which was fulfilled in November 2019 by MMO1136 – Non-licensable Activity Impacts on Marine Protected Areas. This link outlines further work and some interesting background. The MMO has an obligation under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 to further the conservation objectives of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), including using its byelaw making powers and marine planning policy to directly or indirectly manage non-licensable activities.

Non-licensable activities include a range of activities, from mooring and anchoring to recreational SCUBA diving. Non-licensable activities within MPAs are not well understood in terms of their intensity, both spatially and temporally, particularly in relation to protected features in MPAs. This makes it difficult to consider whether non-licensable activities are having a detrimental impact on an MPA.

Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies such as Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee are responsible for assessing the sensitivity of MPA features to activity pressures.

The MMO is interested in improving our understanding of the distribution and intensity of activities which could then support potential management measures for MPAs: Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) and European Marine Sites (EMS) such as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) or Special Protection Areas (SPA). Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) are responsible for considering the impacts of commercial fishing, and due to the difficult nature of separating commercial from recreational fishing, the IFCA assessments also cover recreational fishing impacts inside 6nm.

Types of non-licensable activity have been prioritised by the MMO. Anchoring and mooring has been identified as a priority activity to focus on, this includes the following:

  • Powerboating or sailing with an engine: mooring and/or anchoring AND Sailing without an engine: mooring and/or anchoring

The following activities have also been identified, but at a lower priority (in no specific order):

  • Powerboating or sailing with an engine: launching and recovery, participation
  • Sailing without an engine: launching and recovery, participation
  • Non-motorised water craft (e.g. kayaks, windsurfing, dinghies)
  • Recreational SCUBA diving

There are currently 175 MPAs in UK non-devolved (MMO) waters, the MMO have identified 33 sites as having features potentially at risk from pressures caused by non-licensable activities.’

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