Government to carry out major environmental assessment of UK seas

Defra prioritises post-Brexit fisheries plan and protection of UK's coldwater reefs, promising data will be made publicly available online

An assessment of the seas around the UK will carried out by the government and made available online, the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has promised, with a view to cleaning up and improving the inshore environment.

Thi(C)rise Coffey, a Defra minister, said that by the end of this year "a major assessment of how our seas have moved towards good environmental status" would be completed. This assessment, which would be accompanied by an online tool that the general public could use to examine progress on the marine environment and the pressures it is under, is expected to inform future marine policy.