Marine Planning Issues with Supporting Evidence

1. There is a need for join-up and alignment for large cross-border developments which span multiple marine plan areas and/or jurisdictions. These may include offshore wind, cables and interconnector developments, as well as terrestrial cable landing sites.

2. Ongoing and future changes in national planning policies will present a challenge for the new East Marine Plan.

1. The changing distribution and level of fish stocks in the North Sea may alter fishing practices. It remains unclear as to whether the overall impact on employment in the fisheries sector will be positive or negative.  

2. There is concern within the ports and shipping industry of a potential skills gap resulting from the decarbonisation of the sector. 

1. The acceleration of coastal erosion due to climate change is threatening key access infrastructure, including newly opened sections of King Charles footpath. 

2. Increasing tourism is leading to associated environmental impacts from footfall on habitats and creates both challenges and opportunities for access infrastructure, which can be designed to mitigate against these effects. 

1. In the future, there may be opportunities for increased co-existence between defence and other marine activities. Possible targets for increased co-existence could include less-frequently used or decommissioned Ministry of Defence sites.  

2. Climate change may cause increased risk to military infrastructure from rising sea levels, increasing frequent/severe storms and coastal erosion. 

1. In the future, the increasing impacts from the effects of climate change will create both challenges and opportunities for fisheries (for example leading to more challenging fishing conditions and shifts in fish stocks/fishing grounds).  

2. Fishing is important for food security. A further reduction in fishing grounds, due to increasing demand for space in the marine environment (spatial squeeze), is likely to impact future food security.

1. The development of coastal infrastructure and new marine activities (for example cable landfall sites, increased aquaculture) may cause the loss of areas for recreation and impact negatively on tourism. 

2. Coastal nature recovery schemes, nature-based recovery and increasing levels of coastal defence/protection may impact availability of areas for recreation. 

1. There is a need for future efforts to map and record heritage sites and artefacts creating an opportunity to assess their extent and monitor their condition.  

2. There is a need to share expertise, collaborate and promote cooperation in order to safeguard underwater cultural heritage. 

1. Climate change is likely to impact on access to and appreciation of the coast in the future. For example, increasing levels of coastal erosion in the east inshore marine plan area will present access challenges, while the biodiversity implications of climate change may impact on enjoyment and appreciation of coastal habitats. 

2. Volunteer time spent on the natural environment in England is increasing, while surveys show that protecting the environment is important to most adults and children. This may create an opportunity to tackle important environmental issues such as water quality, plastic pollution and biodiversity loss. 

1. Currently, separate frameworks for landscape and seascape methodology / assessment creates difficulties for users, especially in the intertidal area. Future revision to methodologies could present an opportunity to reduce these difficulties.  

2. Future outputs from the East Seascape Assessment will provide opportunities for plan and policy development at a more spatial level.