The Environment Agency has developed this intervention plan with other organisations involved in protecting the public from radioactive objects.

This is a summary of how the different organisations will work together to:

• protect the public and environment from any harm caused by radioactive objects on west Cumbria beaches
• respond to a discovery of radioactive objects near the Sellafield site – a single find or an overall change in the find rate, activity or trends

Requirement R57

Requirement detail

Currently dredge material is usually disposed of at sea. The MMO wish to encourage and enable both the alternative use and re-cycling of dredged material. This will help maintain coastlines, ecosystem services and sustainable development.

Re-used dredged materials conserve primary resources, especially in capital projects where dredged materials can provide fill for allied construction works. However to be able to ensure that these opportunities are maximised the MMO would like to better understand the barriers to the reuse of dredged materials.

This requirement includes increasing the understanding of:

• which spatial and temporal circumstances enable successful re-use
• where and how dredged material could be reused, and other projects that could incorporate alternative use
• the costs to developers to carry out re-use/recycling projects
• the potential to develop a marine alternative use regulatory toolbox for England to support better regulation
• the legal classification of the designation of dredged sediment as waste and the relevant Environment Agency quality protocols

Requirement R127

Requirement detail

Globally 94% of marine protected areas (MPAs) allow fishing (Costello and Ballantine 2015. MMO is responsible for implementation of management measures to ensure fishing is compatible with the conservation objectives of English MPAs, while minimising the socio-economic impact of such MPA measures. Where fishing is not compatible with an MPA’s conservation objectives, it is excluded. This requirement is to identify solutions that enhance compatibility and potentially enable fishing activity.

This requirement includes identifying examples of successful approaches or measures from comparable habitats and fisheries around the world and considering areas of best practice that could help inform development of MMO measures. In particular, the MMO is interested in measures to ensure effective and proportionate protection of ephemeral and mobile species.

Requirement R63

Requirement detail

Active enforcement of wildlife licensing through traditional enforcement methods requires significant resource. Exploration of innovative approaches to enact wildlife legislation, for example education or outcome focused compliance, would benefit the efficiency of marine management work. Such innovative approaches may also have application within other MMO functions where regulatory enforcement is required, including licensing and fisheries.

It is important that any novel approaches proposed are practical and cost-effective to implement. Therefore, approaches should also consider appropriate feasibility testing or parallel work in other enforcement fields and any implementation considerations.

Kenneth Savels, master of Belgian beam trawler Van Eyck (Z53) and owner Irina NV (represented by Steven Savels) were sentenced at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on 26 September 2017 in a prosecution brought by the MMO.

The court heard how the defendants had failed to maintain an accurate logbook by incorrectly recording the area of capture for sole and plaice on several trips in 2015.

On 7 May 2015 the Van Eyck was boarded by MMO officers on a joint patrol with the Isle of Man Fisheries Department in Welsh waters. A diary was found containing details of 12 fishing trips in 2015. The recordings for three of these trips did not corroborate recordings in the logbook.

Both entered not guilty pleas but were found guilty by the judge. Irina NV was ordered to pay a £27,000 fine, £9,115 costs and a £120 victim surcharge. Kenneth Savels was ordered to pay a fine of £3,000 and a £120 victim surcharge.

In sentencing, the judge said:

Taking together all of the evidence for all of the trips, I am satisfied that there are no credible or plausible explanations for the existence of the diary or the inconsistencies between the diary and the log. On each contentious trip there is a clear incentive to misrecord.

A spokesperson for the MMO said:

The court in this case considered these offences to be serious in nature and imposed significant penalties, which recognises the scale of offending that took place in failing to record logbook information correctly.

In these cases the MMO will always take the appropriate action, including prosecution, to ensure offenders do not profit from such illegal activity and to protect fish stocks for the wider fishing industry and future generations.