Committee publication · Correspondence · 3 March 2026
Correspondence from the Marine Management Organisation following the evidence session on Fisheries and the Marine Environment on 28 January, dated 25 February 2026
From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Inquiry: Fisheries and the marine environment
Summary
The Marine Management Organisation provides supplementary information to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee following its 28 January 2026 evidence session on Fisheries and the Marine Environment. The MMO outlines its enforcement transparency commitments, provides detailed inspection and compliance data for April–December 2025, clarifies its role in marine spatial planning and Marine Protected Area management, and explains how it prioritises work across six core business areas against competing statutory duties and government priorities.
Key findings
- MMO recorded 4,843 planned assurance inspections in 2024/25 with an overall compliance rate of 88%, but at-sea UK inspections show only 67% compliance versus 92% in-port compliance.
- MMO commits to developing routine publication of enforcement activity data following stakeholder engagement to identify valuable metrics.
- MMO contributed extensive fisheries mapping, co-existence studies, and economic data to Defra's Marine Spatial Prioritisation programme but clarifies the North Sea Future Plan was led by DESNZ and NSTA, not MSPri.
- MMO prioritises delivery against statutory duties under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and Fish Act 2020, with current Secretary of State priorities focused on enabling growth, driving growth, and protecting growth aligned to Corry and Hancock recommendations.
- MPA management coordination involves MMO leading working groups with Natural England, JNCC, IFCAs, and Cefas, with MMO managing fishing offshore six nautical miles and non-licensable activities inshore of twelve nautical miles.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Alistair Carmichael MP, Natural England, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities (IFCAs), Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), The Crown Estate
Notable line
“MMO considers this to be valuable feedback and is committed to reviewing its current operational performance data to develop a routine publication of its enforcement activity.”
Key Quotes
“MMO considers this to be valuable feedback and is committed to reviewing its current operational performance data to develop a routine publication of its enforcement activity.”
“The North Sea Future Plan was not developed through the MSPri Programme and was led by DESNZ and the NSTA”
“Currently, the key SoS priorities for MMO are to enable growth, drive growth and protect growth i.e. Corry and Hancock recommendations and contributes to the Government's Clean Power Mission.”
“For our work to manage fishing and marine non-licensable activities, MMO leads working groups to coordinate with Defra and ALBs including Natural England, JNCC and IFCAs.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗