UK Initial Assessment and proposals for Good Environmental Status
This is a joint consultation between Defra, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government and on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
The Directive requires Member States to take measures to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) for their seas by 2020. GES involves protecting the marine environment, preventing its deterioration and restoring it where practical, while using marine resources sustainably. The Directive is very wide-ranging and sets out eleven descriptors of GES relating to biological diversity, non-indigenous species introductions, commercially exploited fish and shellfish populations, food webs, human-induced eutrophication, sea floor integrity, hydrographical conditions, concentrations of contaminants, contaminants in fish and other seafood, litter and noise.
This consultation focuses on the initial stages of implementation and includes a draft initial assessment of the state of the UK’s seas; proposals for UK characteristics of GES; proposals for detailed UK targets and indicators of GES; and an impact assessment setting out potential implications of the proposed GES targets and indicators. Later consultations will cover proposals for the UK monitoring programmes for GES and the UK programmes of measures for achieving GES.
For the UK, the Directive is part of a package of policies, united by our vision for ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas’. The Directive’s aims are consistent with this vision and current policies, such as the implementation of the Marine and Coastal Access Act, and the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy will play a major role in helping us achieve GES.
Please visit the Defra website for more information on responding
Please send written responses no later than 18 June 2012 to: MSFDTeam@defra.gsi.gov.uk