Marine Management Organisation annual report and accounts 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020
Marine Management Organisation (MMO) annual report and accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Annual Report and Accounts provides detail on the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), including; our purpose, the key risks that we face in achieving our objectives, and how we have performed during 2019/20.
Commenting on the report and performance during 2019/20, Tom McCormack, MMO CEO, said:
Since joining the MMO in September 2019, I have been consistently impressed with all that has been achieved. A significant amount of our focus this year has continued to ensure we, together with our customers and stakeholders, are best ready for the changes that 1 January will bring.
Like everyone, we had to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic to find new ways of working to ensure the continued delivery of our services.
While end of transition period planning and Covid-19 has dominated the headlines it has only been two areas of concentration for us this year. Our report sets out our other significant achievement across all our key service areas.
I want to thank our customers and stakeholders who have worked with us this year and look forward to continuing to build on these relationships next year, and beyond.
During this reporting period, some of our achievements include:
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A new long-term vision and strategic plan (our ‘MMO Story’) support the government’s aims for clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse oceans and seas, in the context of a world-wide focus on sustainability and the government’s 25-year Environment Plan.
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Working with our customers, stakeholders and partners, we helped deliver several high priority projects for government to protect and enhance our precious marine environment, and supported marine developments across England that helped contribute around £10.6 billion to the UK economy.
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Reached the final stage of developing a complete set of comprehensive, evidence-based marine plans that cover all of England’s seas and coasts (an area almost twice the size of our land-base).
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Strengthened our relationships with stakeholders and ensured fishers and the seafood industry were informed and supported to be ready and able to continue trading through the transition year and beyond.
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Further increased our marine surveillance presence (on shore and at sea) and recruited additional marine enforcement officers to provide added support and assurance capability.
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Designed, developed, and launched the new Maritime and Fisheries Fund (MFF) for England and awarded £7.8million to 343 projects, which was matched with £6.6million private funding.
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In March, in response to the Covid-19 emergency and its adverse impact on the fisheries sector, the MMO worked closely with delivery partners and industry, and rapidly designed and delivered three support schemes through the government’s £10million Fisheries Response Fund. The scheme provided direct emergency funding to 1,158 fishing vessel owners, 76 aquaculture businesses and 20 fisheries projects aimed at the marketing and distribution of domestically caught fish.
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Played a central role in the global actions to tackle overfishing, species extinction and climate change as part of the International Blue Belt Programme. Further detail, including our sustainability report and progress against targets is available within the full report.
Background
Annual Report and Accounts covers the financial year 2019/20. This paper was laid before Parliament in response to a legislative requirement or as a Return to an Address and was ordered to be printed by the House of Commons.