Last Thursday (15 March) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) rolled out its draft Marine Bill at a consultative conference in London. This followed a scoping consultation in 2006 to which Seafish responded, along with many other marine stakeholders.
The Bill proposes a completely new regime for developing, managing and protecting the marine environment.
Seafish welcomes the Bill and has been impressed with the degree of consultation that has accompanied it. Defra has been extremely inclusive and provided plenty of opportunities for comment. The result is a document that is very broad in scope. The Act that follows the Bill will fundamentally affect the ways in which the industry will have to operate, both in inshore waters and offshore. The concepts underpinning the Bill will put the UK among the world’s most progressive administrations in marine environmental management.
