MMO1243 Recreational Scuba Diving

Under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) the MMO is obligated to further the conservation objectives of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in England. Where non-licensable activities occur within MPAs the MMO can manage activity through its byelaw-making powers and through marine planning policy. This report provides insights into the spatial distribution of a subset of marine non-licensable activities within specific MPAs across England. Marine non-licensable activities are those which do not require a marine licence and include a range of recreational activities from mooring and anchoring to boating and SCUBA diving. The overarching aim of this project was to identify and collate all relevant existing spatial data (published since 2015) for each marine non-licensable activity, validate and support this data through the collection of stakeholder information, and apply transparent and validated methods to produce data that can be used to support the consideration of potential management measures at 32 selected MPAs. A variety of different data sources were utilised to obtain spatial data for each marine non-licensable activity. Publicly available information (including maps of boating participation areas, moorings and anchorages), aerial imagery and other available datasets and sources were identified and used to create a cumulative layer of existing spatial data for each non-licensable activity. A stakeholder consultation was then implemented, using an online data viewer (displaying the cumulative data layers) to validate the existing data and further develop the spatial extent of each non-licensable activity. Regions with the highest stakeholder input included The Solent and the Exe Estuary, with consultees also providing information on a national scale. Government organisations and ports and harbours contacts provided the most information of all the stakeholder types invited to take part. Limited information was obtained on temporal or spatial intensity of the activities. Many stakeholders who responded did provide details about intensity for the areas which they edited, but these formed a small proportion of the mapped activity data layers. Final outputs are summarised in this report, and the 7 final marine non-licensable activity map data layers, which are available for public use, can be accessed via the Defra Data Services Platform (https://environment.data.gov.uk/) or from the MMO by request. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions on having face to face meetings with stakeholders an online data viewer was used which proved to be a successful and efficient way to share existing data and edit new spatial data. The existing data covered all MPAs of interest and were generally found to accord well with stakeholder knowledge. Responses provided by stakeholders covered all non-licensable activities of interest within 19 out of the 32 MPAs considered in this study. Data generated by this methodology can also be a useful tool for highlighting gaps in organisational and regional input of information regarding marine non-licensable activities within MPAs.