Guidance

Evidence requirements

Updated 11 December 2024

1. Active evidence requirements

Title	Description	Priority
R001 - Improved spatial data on activity distribution and intensity	Improvement spatial data on the distribution and intensity of activities, particularly tourism and recreation, cable routes and landfalls and fishing activity (<15m vessels), new or emerging activities.	C
R002 - Predicting the future location and potential value of sites of aquaculture development	To improve identification of potential aquaculture development sites nationally and assess potential for economic values of aquaculture at each site. Valuation techniques should incorporate emerging products and culture techniques.	D
R005 - Marine species migration pathways	Improved information on the migratory pathways, for species of conservation importance, particularly fishes, to inform balanced evaluation of the cost and benefits of protecting those pathways.	B
R007 - Seasonal bird density and key foraging areas	MMO seeks information on bird distribution in space and time (at least seasonality) with associated habitat usage eg, rafting, moulting or nesting. This should include both designated and UK BAP priority bird species.	C
R009 - Impacts of climate change at scales applicable to marine planning	The MMO seeks better understanding of shorter time scale predictions (eg to 2040) and finer spatial resolution (plan area or better) to identify the timing and magnitude of impacts on environmental, social and economic conditions.	B
R014 - Loss of fringing habitat and transitional communities from coastal squeeze	To identify areas of fringing habitat and transitional communities at risk from coastal squeeze and identify sites potentially suitable for managed mitigation or habitat creation in response to coastal squeeze impacts.	C
R031 - Natural Capital and Ecosystem Service approaches to management	Understanding the benefits obtained from natural capital; the distribution and condition of assets that underpin them; and how investment, intervention or management might affect these benefits, is needed for long-term planning.	B
R045 - Pressures of different fishing gear	Enhanced understanding of the types and magnitudes of pressures exerted by different fishing gear on the environment, and potential management actions to manage any negative impacts from the fishing gear on protected features.	A
R046 - Predicting fishing effort and impact	Improve forecasting of fisheries fleet activity, to allow better decision making.	E
R059 - The baseline social and economic environment local to marine protected areas	Improved economic and social baseline information at a scale/resolution suitable to supporting mandatory impact assessments of Marine Protected Area management measures	D
R063 - Innovative and novel approaches to enforcement	Exploration of innovative approaches to enact wildlife legislation (e.g. education and outcome focused compliance), and other regulatory enforcement.	C
R064 - Environmental impacts of marine litter	Understanding of types of litter that occur and their associated, sources and impacts.	E
R068 - Approaches for monitoring the impact of marine plans.	Information to support monitoring of marine plan implementation and impact particularly in the South and East marine plans to support plan review process.	A
R071 - Acclimation of birds to disturbance from marine activities	The MMO seek evidence on whether, or to what extent, acclimatisation occurs, whether acclimation is species dependant and the conditions under which acclimation occurs such as in interaction with other pressures.	B
R088 - Spatial identification and categorisation of areas of particular importance to fish populations.	Identify habitats important to fishes and develop methods to provide an improved, robust mechanism to ensure appropriate proportionate protection	B
R103 - The baseline social environment of the English marine plan areas	Understanding of the social baseline of the marine plan areas is required to inform impact assessment and monitoring of marine plans, particularly social baseline information for the NE, NW, SE, SW plan areas.	A
R104 - Continued development of nationally agreed standardised methods for all environmental pressure types at all scales	Continued work to develop nationally agreed, standardised methods to describe and evaluate environmental pressure types and to validate these to identify best data requirements for assessments would support all marine management activities.	B
R109 - Novel technologies to reduce risks to marine protected areas	Exploration of current issues preventing access to MPAs for activities, particularly fishing and recreation to inform novel technological solutions that may remove such barriers, and resulting impacts and adjustments of implementing measures.	B
R110 - Temporal variability of marine habitats	An exploration of mechanisms to describe temporal variability and application of these approaches to priority species/habitats including effective incorporation of this temporal variability within marine management approaches.	C
R127 - Evaluation of MPA management approaches	Inform development effective and proportionate protection measures, particularly for ephemeral and mobile species drawing on successful measures from comparable habitats and fisheries around the world and identifying areas of best practice.	B
R129 - Validating method of capture	To review and develop methodologies for distinguishing the method of capture of fish	B
R130 - Detecting berried lobsters	Landing berried lobsters is prohibited. Intelligence suggests some fishermen are continuing to land lobster after removing the traces of eggs.	B
R131 - Validating the origin of capture	To review and develop methodologies for establishing where fish was originally captured.	C
R132 - Innovation and new technology	Innovation and technology are developing at an increasing rate. The MMO needs to understand how to apply these new approaches.	D
R140 - Identifying seafood species	The MMO is interested in methodologies for distinguishing the species of seafood	D
R141 - Fisheries displacement from management and other marine activities	Fisheries displacement from management and other marine activities	C
R142 - Non Licensable impacts on priority MPAs	The MMO wishes to increase our understanding of where specific non-licensable activities are occurring in priority MPAs where they may be a risk to designated features.	B

2. Fulfilled evidence requirements

Title	Description	Priority
R013 - The impacts of multiple Marine Protected Area closures on fisheries and recreation	Closure of MPA’s to a specific marine activity is likely to result in displacement or, if there are multiple Marine Protected Area closures, prevention of that activity for the companies/individuals concerned. This needs investigation.	C
R016 - Co-location/displacement in the marine area; the likelihood and impact on marine activities	To build on previous outputs of MMO1049 which outlined a proposed framework of comparing co-existence versus no coexistence.	C
R027 - The baseline economic environment of the English marine plan areas	To describe, quantitatively and qualitatively, economic situation in the North East, North West, South West and South East marine plan areas.	A
R028 - Geographic definition of the economic value of supply chains linked to marine activities	Describing existing supply chains reliant on the marine area, their value and geographical distribution enables a description, in economic terms, of the supply chains linked to marine activities, both up and down supply chains.	D
R039 - Stock assessment for scallops	A stock assessment is required for scallops to support fisheries management.	C
R042 - The social and economic benefit of commercial and recreational fishing	There is a need to better develop social and economic outputs from fishing effort/landings for fishing vessels and allocate these to marine space.	C
R050 - The direct and indirect impacts of implementing days at sea schemes	Cost benefit assessment of implementing days at sea scheme to inform existing and proposed schemes. Of particular interest are the impacts on vessel activity and fleet size over an extended period in Western waters (scallopers and crabbers).	C
R053 - Future trends analysis for marine sector/activity	Marine plans run for 20 years and thus must clearly incorporate an understanding of likely changes in the marine area over that time. A clear understanding of potential drivers of change and an exploration of the likely future changes is needed	A
R056 - Future changes in response to different management scenarios	Different marine plan options are designed to result in different future visions. In-depth research exploring the likely interactions between marine activities under different management scenarios is needed.	E
R057 - Alternative use of dredged material	Some dredged material can be used for beneficial purposes. MMO would like to better understand the barriers to the reuse of dredged materials and where it could be used.	B
R077 - The physical environment and implications for sediment disposal	The MMO requires physical models to improve understanding of sediment transport routes, during dredge disposal operations at designated disposal sites, to provide further evidence and support decisions around licensing conditions.	A
R082 - The potential positive impacts of marine activities	Marine activities can have positive social and economic impacts. Exploration of positive versus negative impacts within the framework of marine licensing legislation could strongly support sustainable development.	D
R086 - The location, condition and features of significant sites for habitat conversion or restoration	The MMO would like to create a national dataset showing the type and location of sites with potential to be converted into a significant habitats	A
R090 - The intensity and impacts of non-licensable activity	MMO wishes to develop a sufficiently robust evidence base on the full range and types of marine non-licensable activities, their current and potential intensity, and risk of impact on marine protected areas.	A
R095 - Seascape Characterisation and Visual Impact in Marine Areas	The MMO needs to collate Seascape character assessments, using an agreed approach, for Marine Plan areas 1, 2, 5, 8, 9 and 10. Secondly a visual amenity map for each area is needed to help inform licensing decisions.	A
R100 - The contribution of shipping to the English economy	The MMO needs a fuller picture of the economic contribution of the ports and shipping sectors. This will be through identifying datasets that could be combined, or used alongside each other to gain a fuller picture.	C
R119 - A review of non-lethal deterrents suitable for control of seals from fishing vessels.	Review and test the suitability and likely effectiveness of available non-lethal deterrents for use from fishing vessels would strength this. Related work to examine the level of depredation by seals would also benefit wildlife management.	B
R136 - Seascape quality, value and capacity for change	Seascape quality, value and capacity for change	B