The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an executive

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

established under the

Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c 23) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates "a new system of marine management". The Marine Management Organisation Section 1(1) creates the Marine Management Organisation. Sect ...

, with responsibility for English waters. The MMO exists to make a significant contribution to sustainable development in the marine area, and to promote the UK government's vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. The MMO aims to focus all of its activities and resources to meet its mission of enabling

sustainable growth Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The d ...

in the UK's marine area through 5 strategic outcomes: *1. Marine businesses support

in the UK economy *2. The marine environment is protected for current and future generations *3. Coastal communities are thriving and engaged *4. Our decisions are trusted *5. Be a highly effective public body

Roles and responsibilities

The MMO is independent of government as a

(NDPB). Its powers enable it to set up a marine planning system and a marine licensing regime, manage English fishing fleet capacity and English fisheries quotas, work with

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna ...

and the

Joint Nature Conservation Committee The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the public body that advises the UK Government and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international nature conservation. Originally established under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, JN ...

(JNCC) to create and manage a network of marine protected areas ( Marine Conservation Zones and

European marine site European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

s) designed to preserve vulnerable habitats and species in UK marine waters, respond to marine emergencies alongside other agencies, and develop an internationally recognised centre of excellence for marine information that supports its decision-making process. The equivalent organisations elsewhere in the UK include

Marine Scotland The Marine Scotland Directorate ( gd, Cùisean Mara na h-Alba) is a directorate of the Scottish Government. Marine Scotland manages Scotland's seas and freshwater fisheries along with delivery partners NatureScot and the Scottish Environm ...

and the Welsh

Marine and Fisheries Division , native_name_a = , native_name_r = , type = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , logo = , logo_width = 200 , logo_caption = , ...

History

The MMO was established on 1 April 2010 by the

. The MMO incorporated the work of the Marine and Fisheries Agency and acquired several important new roles, principally marine planning and other marine-related powers and specific functions previously associated with the

Department of Energy and Climate Change The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom created on 3 October 2008, by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take over some of the functions related to energy of the Department for Busin ...

and the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

, including harbour orders and works related to renewable energy installations.

Activities

Marine planning

Marine planning is a new approach to the management of UK seas. The aim is to ensure a sustainable future for coastal and offshore waters through managing and balancing the many activities, resources and assets in our marine environment. There are 11 plan areas in England with the two areas in the North West merging to make a single area.

Marine licensing

A marine licence is required under the

for many activities involving a deposit or removal of a substance or object below the mean high water springs mark or in any tidal river to the extent of the tidal influence. This could be constructing a port or wind farm, the dredging of a channel or laying pipelines on the seabed. There are many licensable activities as well as exemptions from requiring a marine licence. The online marine licensing system has been running since 6 April 2011. The system aims to make applying for a marine licence clearer, simpler and providing quicker decision making.

Fisheries management

The MMO issues and administers vessel licences for English vessels. All commercial UK vessels need to be registered with the Registry of Shipping and Seamen, which is based in Cardiff and part of the

Maritime and Coastguard Agency The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom that responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine ...

of the Department for Transport. The MMO issues licence variations to reflect changes in licence conditions, quota limits and openings and closures of sea areas. The MMO sets fishing quotas to help achieve the objectives of the

Common Fisheries Policy The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions. ...

for the conservation and sustainable management of fish stocks. The UK's quota is shared among 23 producer organisations (the sector), the inshore fleet (under 10 metre vessels) and vessels not in membership of a producer organisation (the non-sector). The MMO issues monthly catch limits for the under 10 metre and the non-sector and uses fishing vessel licence variations to open and close fisheries in specific sea areas.

Fisheries monitoring and enforcement

The MMO co-ordinates an enforcement programme for monitoring, control and surveillance of all sea fishing activity within British fishery limits around the coast of England, and English vessels operating outside those waters. This includes financial administrative penalties for fisheries offences, sea area closures, electronic recording systems, fisheries prosecutions, Registered Buyers and Sellers Scheme, satellite monitoring and

illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes p ...

Protecting the environment

The MMO administers the approval of oil spill treatment products generally and in a

marine pollution Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there. The major ...

incident. The MMO also maintains a Marine Pollution Contingency Plan. The MMO put in place management measures to prohibit or restrict certain activities in order to further the conservation objectives of European marine sites, such as a

special area of conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

(SAC) and a

special protection area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

(SPA), which are protected under the EC Habitats Directive and Birds Directive. The MMO issues wildlife licences in the English marine environment or the Welsh offshore environment where the activity meets certain purposes and where there is no satisfactory alternative.

Prosecution of Greenpeace for preventing bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas

In 2020, protesters from the environmental group

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth ...

dropped boulders on the sea bed in the

Dogger Bank Dogger Bank (Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass c ...

marine protected area, an area used by bottom trawlers, and in 2021 the group dropped more in the Offshore Brighton Marine Protected Area. These rocks were harmless to surface fishing and marine life but prevented bottom trawlers which drag the on sea floor. The Marine Management Organisation prosecuted Greenpeace for these actions. The case was criticised by the presiding judge Edward Bindloss who stated "the MMO should support the prevention of any harmful deep sea fishing methods over important marine seabeds. It touches on the absurd that this litigation is happening at all.” In response The Maritime Management Organisation presented no evidence against Greenpeace and the case was dismissed.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Law enforcement agencies of England and Wales Fisheries agencies Fishing in England Fishing in Wales 2010 establishments in England Organisations based in Tyne and Wear Government agencies established in 2010