Marine Management Organisation annual report and accounts 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021
Marine Management Organisation (MMO) annual report and accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2021.
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 2020/21.
Commenting on the report and performance during 2020/21, Tom McCormack, MMO CEO, said: In a significant delivery year dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the end of the EU transition period, our focus was on the continuity of our services for the sustainability, protection and development of our vital marine environment, and to those who use it.
MMO played a key role in preparing and supporting our fishing and seafood industry as the UK became an independent coastal state following EU exit and during the Covid-19 pandemic by:
- Ensuring the Industry were informed of all available support through a Covid-19 pandemic guide ‘Support available for our fishing and marine industries’ to signpost to government financial interventions (e.g. Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, Business Interruption loan scheme), welfare and wellbeing support.
- Creating a ‘one stop shop’ online guide signposting the steps commercial fishers and seafood exporters needed to take to continue trading. The guide covers the administrative side of the fishing industry; signposting to business requirements needed such as for fishing, landing, exporting, importing, transportation, food hygiene and regulatory controls.
We also focused our leadership and support to our MMO colleagues throughout the pandemic. Our people continue to be our most significant asset and were magnificent in their support of our customers and stakeholders, as well as supporting each other.
Our report sets out our other significant achievement across all our key service areas, which include:
- MMO alongside Defra and other seafood industry established two funding schemes to support the fishing and aquaculture industry, primarily aimed at businesses affected by the downturn of export and domestic markets, including the hospitality sector Led by our data, we were able to define schemes that targeted the following:
The Fisheries Response Fund (FRF) launched on 20 April 2020 to provide emergency support, by direct invitation, to help Fisheries and Aquaculture businesses cover their fixed costs for a three-month period with payments capped at £10,000 per vessel or farm. A total of £8 million was paid out to 1,253 eligible businesses: and
The Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme (DSSS) launched on 29 April 2020 to provide financial support aimed at establishing domestic and local markets for businesses involved in the end to end fisheries supply chain. A total of £1 million was paid out to 20 eligible projects.
- Provided data, statistical and marine management subject matter expertise to inform the conclusion of the negotiations with the EU.
- Implementing a digital self-service Fish Export Service (FES) to facilitate trade and enable export of fish consignments to the European Union or Northern Ireland.
- Implemented an enhanced control and compliance capability that has assured the integrity of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This capability has deterred and detected illegal fishing in England’s seas to assure the sustainable harvest of sea fisheries resources and the protection of marine environment.
- Implemented a new licensing capability ‘the Single Issuing Authority’ on behalf of all the UK Fisheries Administrations to enable the licensing of UK vessels, where permitted, to fish in EU, third country and international waters and vice versa. Since 1 January 2021, over two thousand UK and EU vessels licensed to fish in one another’s 12-200 nautical mile waters.
Background
Annual Report and Accounts covers the financial year 2020/21. This paper was laid before Parliament on 16 December 2021 in response to a legislative requirement or as a Return to an Address and was ordered to be printed by the House of Commons.