The Marine Management Organisation (MMO)

Lead Contact Details

Name: Marine Management Organisation
Email: info@marinemanagement.org.uk
Tel:0300 123 1032

Status

Non-Departmental Public Body

Geography Area Covered

England-wide remit (including Scottish border to River Tyne area) out to 12 nautical miles

Membership Details

The partnership governance groups this organisation is represented on are:

• Management Partnership
• Steering Group

Marine Protected Areas

The MMO operates, or has management which influence, on the following inshore marine protected areas between Fast Castle Head and the River Tyne:

• Berwick to St Mary’s MCZ
• Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SAC
• Tweed Estuary SAC
• Northumbria Coast SPA
• Lindisfarne SPA
• Farne Islands SPA
• Coquet Island SPA
• Northumberland Marine SPA
• Aln Estuary Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ)
• Coquet to St Mary’s MCZ

Responsibilites

Management Actions

The MMO has the following management measures in place to ensure its functions and regulatory powers are carried out in a manner that achieves the conservation objectives for the inshore marine protected areas in which it operates:

1. All strategic plans and policies produced by the Marine Management Organisation will be subject to an Appropriate Assessment with advice provided by Natural England.
2. All marine licence applications will be subject to a Habitat Regulations Assessment with advice provided by Natural England.
3. Ensure CEFAS and Environment Agency  guidelines for levels of contaminants in dredge spoil are applied when assessing marine licence applications.
4. Where unconsented works take place the Marine Management Organisation will ensure enforcement action is taken if those works have negatively impacted the features of marine protected areas listed above.
5. Marine licence enforcement cases will be brought to the attention of Northumberland County Council and Natural England, through the enforcement working group, where they occur in the intertidal zone.
6. Raise awareness among property owners of the damage caused by inappropriate fly tipping and unconsented/inappropriate private coastal defence interventions.
7. Local fisheries enforcement staff will work in partnership with local fisheries officers at Eyemouth and the Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, sharing resources where possible, to ensure effective cross-border fisheries management.
8. European Maritime and Fisheries Funds will not be given to schemes that adversely affect the features of the MPAs listed above and schemes will be subject to a Habitat Regulations Assessment. All environmental consents will be required before funds are granted.
9. Marine emergency planning and response for oil and chemical spills will take marine protected areas into account and will seek to cause minimum damage or disturbance to protected features.
10. Work with charter boat operators to promote the significance and sensitivities of marine protected areas, and promote the Northumberland Marine Wildlife Watching Code of Conduct and other examples of best practice.
11. Collate and receive information on seal shootings in England and enforce where unlawful shooting is suspected.
12. Work in partnership through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife (PAW) marine wildlife enforcement group to tackle unlawful seal shooting.
13. Continue to review the need to formally gather intelligence on seal shootings through the PAW network if unlawful activity is occurring.

Data, Information and Mapping

The MMO holds the following data that could be of interest to other partners who are responsible for managing marine areas:

Marine Management System Evidence Base – The marine planning evidence base presents information on all sectors and activities submitted to support the development of marine plans, including environmental, economic and social data. Data included comes from a range of sources, including the Marine Management Organisation, delivery partners and industry.