25 Jan 2025
The government has ordered offshore energy firms to avoid “noisy” detonations when disposing of unexploded bombs on the seabed. Over 300,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance from the First and Second World Wars sit on the UK seabed and, if encountered, must be cleared during the construction of offshore wind projects. Marine minister Emma Hardy said […]
22 Oct 2024
New legislation implementing a range of short-term management measures for certain species of fish have been introduced to the UK Parliament (16 October 2024). These new arrangements have been identified within the first Fisheries Management Plans (FMP) as priority to help provide additional protection to vulnerable stocks. The measures, which are subject to Parliamentary scrutiny, […]
17 Sep 2024
A new report commissioned by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) titled “Exploring the challenges, opportunities and barriers to local decision making in the context of marine planning” has been published. The research aimed to scope out the challenges, opportunities and barriers to local decision-making within a marine planning context; defining localised marine planning, its potential […]
20 Aug 2024
The MMO’s digital marine planning and mapping service – Explore Marine Plans – has recently been updated with new functionality and an improved user experience. The new service enables users to find marine planning information for England, including data on marine licenses, environmental designations and policy information from regional marine plans. A new way to […]
28 May 2024
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), in collaboration with other UK governmental bodies, is responsible for managing marine non-licensable activities (mNLA) to further the conservation objectives of England’s inshore marine protected areas within 0-12 nautical miles (nm). mNLA activities encompass a range of recreational pursuits, from sailing and motorboating to diving and snorkelling. This excludes fishing […]
26 Mar 2024
A new byelaw protecting an area of almost 4000 square km of seas from damaging fishing activity is now in force in English waters. The byelaw prohibits the use of bottom towed gear in specific areas within 13 English offshore MPAs that contain valuable reef and rocky habitats. The implementation of the byelaw comes days […]
27 Feb 2024
English fishers impacted by the recent closure of the UK pollack fisheries will now be eligible for fast tracked financial grants through the re-opened £6m Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS). Following EU fishery negotiations, the UK government set the pollack Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for 2024 to zero following concerns about the population stocks, permitting […]
06 Feb 2024
A Marine Management Organisation (MMO) byelaw to protect valuable marine habitats and species in 13 English offshore marine protected areas (MPAs) will come into force on 22 March 2024. Following formal consultation in 2023 and an official announcement on 31 January 2024 as part of Government’s 1 year on Environmental Improvement Plan progress update, management measures […]
