The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) introduced a significant change in the scientific evidence requirements for supporting regulatory decisions by the marine regulatory and nature conservation agencies in the UK and the EU.

Many of these decisions will result in a license or authorisation to undertake works in coastal, estuarine or marine areas, or to place or remove materials. Since the main objective of the Directive is to manage human activities and sustainable use of marine goods and services and to achieve ‘Good Environmental Status’ (GES) by 2020 across Europe’s marine environment, monitoring the impact of such activities is essential. The requirements for compliance monitoring are normally set in a series of license conditions, and these will result in the production of data. The data will be used as scientific evidence, and must be scientifically robust and able to stand up to legal scrutiny.

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