14 Oct 2025

Photo by Link Bekka   The Marine Management Organisation has reverted to using sales notes for compiling official landing statistics after a quality assessment revealed significant data gaps in its catch recording system for under-10m fishing vessels. The decision follows the discovery of technical issues with the catch recording mobile application that prevented data from […]

30 Sep 2025

Photo by Kilian Murphy   The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is implementing a comprehensive upgrade to its marine licensing service, moving away from the current marine case management system (MCMS) to a new modern platform offering long-term stability, enhanced security and improved user experience. The new service will be accompanied by end-to-end service improvements aimed at enhancing […]

08 Sep 2025

Photo by Shane Stagner   The Marine Management Organisation has suspended a licence for a large-scale seaweed farm off the north Cornwall coast, citing new environmental and safety concerns including doubts over whether proposed infrastructure could withstand the area’s “energetic” waves. The suspension follows an internal MMO review of the licence granted in 2023 to Penmayne Ltd […]

08 Sep 2025

Photo by Paul Einerhand   The UK’s Fisheries Administrations have launched the “Fish, Trace, Ship” campaign to prepare the country’s seafood supply chain for major changes to EU export requirements, warning that businesses must act early to maintain market access from 10 January 2026. The campaign, led by the Marine Management Organisation, comes as the EU updates […]

02 Sep 2025

Photo by Being Momentx   Sussex Wildlife Trust has launched a judicial review challenging the Marine Management Organisation’s decision to allow Brighton Marina to dump 100,000 tonnes of dredged sediment annually in a protected marine area for the next decade. Protected area “in name only” The charity argues the decision exposes “inadequate protection given to […]

19 Aug 2025

Photo by Nick Fewings   A significant gap has emerged in the UK’s fishing vessel monitoring system after a major supplier halted data transmission to authorities over an unresolved contract dispute, leaving an unknown number of under-12 metre vessels untracked. Succorfish stopped forwarding positional data to the UK VMS Hub on 11th August, citing the […]

05 Aug 2025

Photo of Les Philpott (sourced from https://www.gov.uk/government/people/les-philpott)   Les Philpott has been appointed as the new Chair of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), the UK government announced on July 30. His three-year term will begin on August 7, 2025. Philpott currently serves as Chair of the Government Actuary’s Department, Lead Non-Executive Board Member at the […]

29 Jul 2025

Photo by Ian Cylkowski   The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has granted marine licences for several pioneering projects aimed at protecting and enhancing England’s marine environment. The approved initiatives range from habitat restoration and biodiversity enhancement to renewable energy development and critical infrastructure upgrades. New habitat structures to boost biodiversity in Teesside The Tees Rivers […]