NOC highlights the importance of marine observations at the House of Commons

How we plan activity and protect our marine environment is vitally important for the protection of our ocean.

As part of our leading role in informing public policy and ocean governance, we were most grateful to have been given the opportunity to give oral evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee as part of their inquiry into Governing the marine environment. The committee inquiry is looking at UK's environmental obligations under marine treaties and how the UK is delivering on them, as well as the Government's strategy for marine planning and protection in its domestic waters.

During the hearing, our Head of Marine Policy, Alan Evans , was able to highlight the importance of continued and sustained marine observations, which require long-term infrastructure investment in order that the UK can understand the state of UK’s domestic waters better. He was able to outline how marine observations are carried out by the NOC using technology, such as Boaty McBoatface, whilst also outlining the limitations of the way observations are carried out currently.

Additionally, Alan was able to answer questions from the committee members on other topics, such as, the use of technology and AI in collating evidence, importance of marine spatial planning and how stakeholders have been involved, as well as the effectiveness of marine protected areas.

We also look forward to hosting the members of the committee to our Southampton site in February and to contribute further evidence to their inquiry in writing.

The full recording of the session is available here - https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/5eef26ab-2055-4df4-87e0-0826389419c8?in=14:24:19