The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is currently assessing the impacts of fishing on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designated to protect harbour porpoise, as part of stage 4 of its programme to manage fishing in England’s offshore MPAs. A call for evidence was completed in 2023 and a period of further engagement with stakeholders was held over recent months. The MMO is now considering a range of management options and will consult before making any final decisions.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) consulted last year on fisheries byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in a further 41 Marine Protected Areas. These proposals are substantial, covering 30,000 square kilometres or 13% of English waters and we must ensure we get them right. The MMO is carefully considering the very large number of responses received to the consultation, and decisions will be made in due course.

Internationally, we remain a leading advocate for ambitious ocean action. We continue to share the lessons we are learning from our UK experience through our membership of key alliances, whilst our scientific expertise, international finance and technical assistance continues to deliver real impact globally.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) consulted last year on fisheries byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in a further 41 Marine Protected Areas. These proposals are substantial, covering 30,000 square kilometres or 13% of English waters and we must ensure we get them right. The MMO is carefully considering the very large number of responses received to the consultation, and decisions will be made in due course.

Internationally, we remain a leading advocate for ambitious ocean action. We continue to share the lessons we are learning from our UK experience through our membership of key alliances, whilst our scientific expertise, international finance and technical assistance continues to deliver real impact globally.

Now the overall situation has stabilised, the response has moved from a Major Incident Response into the recovery phase. Both ships remain afloat and normal maritime traffic has resumed. Though the situation is stable, recovery work will continue with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency continuing to coordinate operational partners and maintaining their vigilance of the situation to ensure a safe resolution.

Defra is working with multiple organisations, including the Centre of Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the PREMIAM (Pollution Response in Emergencies: Marine Impact Assessment and Monitoring) has been activated to assess the impact of this incident on water pollution and the marine environment. No chemical pollution from the initial fuel spill has been detected.

Pollution in the form of nurdles and burnt plastic has shown up on beaches in NW Norfolk, Lincolnshire and at sea in The Wash. Vessels have been recovering the nurdles at sea and the beach clean-up in NW Norfolk is being co-ordinated by Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, and any clean-up in Lincolnshire will be co-ordinated by the relevant local authority there. The clean-up is ongoing. There has been no sign of any other pollution.

The four Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are working together in a Joint East Coast Recovery Management Group to lead counter-pollution activities.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the Statutory Nature Conservation Body for the offshore area and so has been feeding into the ongoing response efforts as part of this incident. Part of this has been providing information and advice in relation to offshore sensitivities, including Marine Protected Areas and mobile species such as harbour porpoise, and potential impacts to them from this incident. The risks to harbour porpoises are being monitored as much as possible and so far, no significant impacts have been identified from this specific incident.

The UK Government funds Clean Catch UK which is a collaborative research programme dedicated to better monitoring and mitigation of sensitive marine species bycatch in UK fisheries.

We also fund a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which helps to reduce any potential fisheries impacts on sensitive marine species, including cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and whales).

In addition, we have recently let a ten-year contract for the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, which conducts research on threats facing sensitive marine species. This research contributes to better monitoring and mitigating of such threats, including bycatch.

The Fisheries Act's ecosystems objective contains a requirement to "minimise, and where possible eliminate bycatch of sensitive marine species". We will set out policies that will help to achieve this objective in the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) which is a UK-wide policy document. The JFS will be published 24 months after the Fisheries Act received Royal Assent, in late 2022.

The UK Government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which provides essential observer data on incidents of cetacean (dolphins, porpoises and whales) bycatch. Information on bycatch rates, broken down by gear type and area are publicly available:

2011 – 2016:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=18535&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6004&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

2017 & 2018:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=19943&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6004&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

In addition, we also fund the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), which annually reports upon threats facing cetaceans through carrying out post-mortems on stranded animals:

2011-2017: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=17835&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6008&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

& 2018:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=20101&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6008&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description)

As of 1 April 2021, we let a new 10-year contract for this programme, which demonstrates our long-term commitment to monitoring and mitigating such threats, including bycatch.

The UK Government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which provides essential observer data on incidents of cetacean (dolphins, porpoises and whales) bycatch. Information on bycatch rates, broken down by gear type and area are publicly available:

2011 – 2016:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=18535&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6004&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

2017 & 2018:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=19943&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6004&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

In addition, we also fund the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), which annually reports upon threats facing cetaceans through carrying out post-mortems on stranded animals:

2011-2017: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=17835&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6008&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

& 2018:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=20101&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ME6008&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description)

As of 1 April 2021, we let a new 10-year contract for this programme, which demonstrates our long-term commitment to monitoring and mitigating such threats, including bycatch.

The Government is working closely with stakeholders including the UK fishing industry to find ways to tackle this problem together. In March, we held a UK bycatch workshop to look at ways to effectively mitigate this problem, and over the coming months we will be working hard to develop and test practical solutions to this critical issue.

The report from the workshop will be published at the end of May. It will include a set of recommendations for tackling this problem and an outline of how Defra, working with stakeholders, intends to take these forward.

The Joint Cetacean Protocol (JCP) is the most comprehensive information source available on whales and porpoises in the UK. Information from the JCP is used to inform assessments of the effects of offshore windfarms on marine mammals. The information was also used to help assess the status of marine mammals as set out in the UK’s Marine Strategy Part One in 2012.

The assessment brought together a significant body of information on the distribution, abundance, trends, and status of whales, porpoises, and seals in UK waters, and a consideration of the pressures they face, including from renewable energy development. The Marine Strategy Part One concluded that the status for the five most abundant cetacean species in UK waters was ‘favourable’. Seals face a number of pressures in the UK, although where localised declines have been identified these have not been attributed to offshore wind farms. Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-strategy-part-one-uk-initial-assessment-and-good-environmental-status.

Predicted porpoise density at or above the 90^th percentile (i.e. areas that had the top 10% of predicted porpoise density) was chosen as the threshold to define ‘high density’ based on a method used by Embling et al. (2010)[i]. This method considered boundary placement to delineate protected areas for harbour porpoise using a perimeter length to area ratio approach. By comparing areas with the top 1%, 5% and 10% of porpoise densities, the perimeter–area ratio was lowest (desirable) and its confidence interval was narrowest (greater certainty) for areas defined by the top 10% threshold (i.e. equivalent to the 90^th percentile). The Inter-Agency Marine Mammal Working Group therefore considered it appropriate to adopt this published approach for the analyses undertaken in Report 544. Both Embling et al. (2010) and Report 544 have been subject to peer review by experts.

Member States, including the UK, use Annex III of the Habitats Directive and additional EU Guidance in the identification of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), but decisions on implementation are taken at the national level. This includes the determination of appropriate thresholds.

The identification of breeding sites for porpoise is not a requirement of Annex III of the EU Habitats Directive. A representative large-scale picture of porpoise calve distribution could not be attained from the data set that informed Report 544, and therefore was unable to support the identification of breeding areas.

The CCW Atlas of Marine Mammals of Wales included data collected and reported on in Pierpoint 2006 and 2008. All data from the Atlas were submitted to the Joint Cetacean Protocol, which provided the dataset that informed Report 544 where consents from the data providers were given.

The designation of SACs is a devolved responsibility, and decisions with regards to the Swansea Bay area are for the Welsh Government.

Report 544 is one step in wider assessment of information towards the identification of possible SACs for harbour porpoise, carried out by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Country Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies. Full information on the assessment process and other key documentation would be made available in a public consultation, providing an opportunity to comment on the scientific process undertaken.

[i] Embling, C. B., Gilibrand, P. A., Gordon, J., Shrimpton, J., Stevick, P. T. & Hammond, P. S. 2010. Using habitat models to identify suitable sites for marine protected areas for harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Biological Conservation 143, 267–279.

Predicted porpoise density at or above the 90^th percentile (i.e. areas that had the top 10% of predicted porpoise density) was chosen as the threshold to define ‘high density’ based on a method used by Embling et al. (2010)[i]. This method considered boundary placement to delineate protected areas for harbour porpoise using a perimeter length to area ratio approach. By comparing areas with the top 1%, 5% and 10% of porpoise densities, the perimeter–area ratio was lowest (desirable) and its confidence interval was narrowest (greater certainty) for areas defined by the top 10% threshold (i.e. equivalent to the 90^th percentile). The Inter-Agency Marine Mammal Working Group therefore considered it appropriate to adopt this published approach for the analyses undertaken in Report 544. Both Embling et al. (2010) and Report 544 have been subject to peer review by experts.

Member States, including the UK, use Annex III of the Habitats Directive and additional EU Guidance in the identification of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), but decisions on implementation are taken at the national level. This includes the determination of appropriate thresholds.

The identification of breeding sites for porpoise is not a requirement of Annex III of the EU Habitats Directive. A representative large-scale picture of porpoise calve distribution could not be attained from the data set that informed Report 544, and therefore was unable to support the identification of breeding areas.

The CCW Atlas of Marine Mammals of Wales included data collected and reported on in Pierpoint 2006 and 2008. All data from the Atlas were submitted to the Joint Cetacean Protocol, which provided the dataset that informed Report 544 where consents from the data providers were given.

The designation of SACs is a devolved responsibility, and decisions with regards to the Swansea Bay area are for the Welsh Government.

Report 544 is one step in wider assessment of information towards the identification of possible SACs for harbour porpoise, carried out by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Country Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies. Full information on the assessment process and other key documentation would be made available in a public consultation, providing an opportunity to comment on the scientific process undertaken.

[i] Embling, C. B., Gilibrand, P. A., Gordon, J., Shrimpton, J., Stevick, P. T. & Hammond, P. S. 2010. Using habitat models to identify suitable sites for marine protected areas for harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Biological Conservation 143, 267–279.

Predicted porpoise density at or above the 90^th percentile (i.e. areas that had the top 10% of predicted porpoise density) was chosen as the threshold to define ‘high density’ based on a method used by Embling et al. (2010)[i]. This method considered boundary placement to delineate protected areas for harbour porpoise using a perimeter length to area ratio approach. By comparing areas with the top 1%, 5% and 10% of porpoise densities, the perimeter–area ratio was lowest (desirable) and its confidence interval was narrowest (greater certainty) for areas defined by the top 10% threshold (i.e. equivalent to the 90^th percentile). The Inter-Agency Marine Mammal Working Group therefore considered it appropriate to adopt this published approach for the analyses undertaken in Report 544. Both Embling et al. (2010) and Report 544 have been subject to peer review by experts.

Member States, including the UK, use Annex III of the Habitats Directive and additional EU Guidance in the identification of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), but decisions on implementation are taken at the national level. This includes the determination of appropriate thresholds.

The identification of breeding sites for porpoise is not a requirement of Annex III of the EU Habitats Directive. A representative large-scale picture of porpoise calve distribution could not be attained from the data set that informed Report 544, and therefore was unable to support the identification of breeding areas.

The CCW Atlas of Marine Mammals of Wales included data collected and reported on in Pierpoint 2006 and 2008. All data from the Atlas were submitted to the Joint Cetacean Protocol, which provided the dataset that informed Report 544 where consents from the data providers were given.

The designation of SACs is a devolved responsibility, and decisions with regards to the Swansea Bay area are for the Welsh Government.

Report 544 is one step in wider assessment of information towards the identification of possible SACs for harbour porpoise, carried out by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Country Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies. Full information on the assessment process and other key documentation would be made available in a public consultation, providing an opportunity to comment on the scientific process undertaken.

[i] Embling, C. B., Gilibrand, P. A., Gordon, J., Shrimpton, J., Stevick, P. T. & Hammond, P. S. 2010. Using habitat models to identify suitable sites for marine protected areas for harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Biological Conservation 143, 267–279.

Predicted porpoise density at or above the 90^th percentile (i.e. areas that had the top 10% of predicted porpoise density) was chosen as the threshold to define ‘high density’ based on a method used by Embling et al. (2010)[i]. This method considered boundary placement to delineate protected areas for harbour porpoise using a perimeter length to area ratio approach. By comparing areas with the top 1%, 5% and 10% of porpoise densities, the perimeter–area ratio was lowest (desirable) and its confidence interval was narrowest (greater certainty) for areas defined by the top 10% threshold (i.e. equivalent to the 90^th percentile). The Inter-Agency Marine Mammal Working Group therefore considered it appropriate to adopt this published approach for the analyses undertaken in Report 544. Both Embling et al. (2010) and Report 544 have been subject to peer review by experts.

Member States, including the UK, use Annex III of the Habitats Directive and additional EU Guidance in the identification of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), but decisions on implementation are taken at the national level. This includes the determination of appropriate thresholds.

The identification of breeding sites for porpoise is not a requirement of Annex III of the EU Habitats Directive. A representative large-scale picture of porpoise calve distribution could not be attained from the data set that informed Report 544, and therefore was unable to support the identification of breeding areas.

The CCW Atlas of Marine Mammals of Wales included data collected and reported on in Pierpoint 2006 and 2008. All data from the Atlas were submitted to the Joint Cetacean Protocol, which provided the dataset that informed Report 544 where consents from the data providers were given.

The designation of SACs is a devolved responsibility, and decisions with regards to the Swansea Bay area are for the Welsh Government.

Report 544 is one step in wider assessment of information towards the identification of possible SACs for harbour porpoise, carried out by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Country Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies. Full information on the assessment process and other key documentation would be made available in a public consultation, providing an opportunity to comment on the scientific process undertaken.

[i] Embling, C. B., Gilibrand, P. A., Gordon, J., Shrimpton, J., Stevick, P. T. & Hammond, P. S. 2010. Using habitat models to identify suitable sites for marine protected areas for harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Biological Conservation 143, 267–279.

At my request, the UK Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) raised the critically endangered status of the vaquita at the IWC meeting in September 2014, as well as in bilateral meetings with Mexican officials. The UK commended the efforts and progress made by the Mexican Government in tackling this issue and urged it to continue its important work.

The UK also announced a donation to the IWC Small Cetaceans Fund, which supports research projects, including on the vaquita.

Protection for harbour porpoise is provided for under the EU habitats directive and Wildlife and Countryside Act, and through bycatch mitigation measures implemented under EU Regulation 812/2004.

The UK has already submitted a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for harbour porpoise in Northern Ireland. Work to identify other potential SACs for harbour porpoise, in accordance with obligations under the habitats directive, is continuing. An analysis of data for harbour porpoise in UK waters, with the aim of determining possible suitable sites for SAC designation, is due to report later this year.

Protection for harbour porpoise is provided for under the EU habitats directive and Wildlife and Countryside Act, and through bycatch mitigation measures implemented under EU Regulation 812/2004.

The UK has already submitted a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for harbour porpoise in Northern Ireland. Work to identify other potential SACs for harbour porpoise, in accordance with obligations under the habitats directive, is continuing. An analysis of data for harbour porpoise in UK waters, with the aim of determining possible suitable sites for SAC designation, is due to report later this year.

DEFRA's Habitats and Birds Directives Marine Evidence Group works with industry, environmental organisations, other Government Departments and agencies to improve evidence on how marine developments affect the environment. This group has recognised the need for improved evidence on the impact of underwater noise on marine mammals given planned large-scale offshore wind energy development in UK seas. Through the group, DEFRA recently commissioned internationally recognised experts to provide an objective assessment, based on current published literature, of the potential impacts of underwater noise from planned offshore wind energy development on harbour porpoise in the North sea. A report will be published on the GOV.UK website shortly.

The group also exchanges information on research, including a project funded by DECC, Marine Scotland, The Crown Estate and others to develop a Population Consequences of Disturbance Interim Framework for evaluation of population level impacts of the construction and operation of offshore renewables on a range of marine mammal species including harbour porpoise. The Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme, initiated by DECC, Marine Scotland and The Crown Estate, plans to include a longer-term project to improve empirical evidence on the impacts of offshore renewables on marine mammals.

The UK has already submitted harbour porpoise as a qualifying feature of the Skerries and Causeway Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in Northern Ireland.

The UK is continuing to work to identify other potential SACs for harbour porpoise, in accordance with its obligations under the EU Habitats Directive. An analysis of data for harbour porpoise in UK waters, with the aim of determining possible suitable sites for SAC designation, is due to report later this year. SAC designation in devolved administrations is a matter for the relevant administration.