Marine monitoring procedural guidelines: Remotely Operated Vehicles in sublittoral habitats

Tender description

UK Marine Biodiversity Monitoring R&D Programme (UK MBMP) There are multiple policy and legislative drivers for marine biodiversity monitoring within the UK, including the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008), the EU Habitats Directive (1992), the EU Birds Directive (1979 amended 2009), the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013. All of these drivers have individual requirements for assessment and reporting which cover varying geographical scales and different aspects of biodiversity (Hinchen, 2014). Therefore, improved evidence on the state of marine biodiversity, and focussed research into whether and how the biodiversity elements are changing in response to both natural and human induced pressures, is vital. However, to be efficient and effective and to avoid duplication and overlap, it is necessary to set up biodiversity monitoring schemes that are general in nature, rather than specific schemes for each driver. To answer this need, the UK Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (hereafter referred to as 'the UK MBMP') was established to provide a coordinated and integrated approach to monitoring UK marine biodiversity, both in protected sites and the wider environment. JNCC is leading on a number of the elements of this Programme, including developing guidelines on monitoring best practice for seabed habitats and communities through the UK MBMP Habitats Monitoring project. The project builds on the widely-used Marine Monitoring Handbook (Davies et al., 2001), as well as current monitoring method guidance such as that collated in the Marine Monitoring Method Finder . 3.2. Marine monitoring method updates for UK MBMP The process of updating procedural guidelines for marine biodiversity monitoring is an ongoing one in the UK that has spanned nearly two decades: • Following on from the publication of the 29 procedural guidelines in the original Marine Monitoring Handbook (Davies et al., 2001) , three new procedural guidelines were added to it in 2005. • The JNCC developed an additional eight common standards monitoring guidance documents in 2004. • The Mapping European Seabed Habitats (MESH) project developed fifteen recommended operating guidelines to support a wide range of marine survey work in 2007 (Coggan et al., 2007a). After significant improvements to some of the methods and technologies used in these guidelines, three of them were updated in 2012 and 2013. • The UK Technical Advisory Group (UKTAG) developed many monitoring standards and assessment methods in 2014 to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (2000), sixteen of which were marine habitat and community specific. • Since then numerous other guidelines have been produced across many organisations (e.g. NMBAQC , PREMIAM ) all of which reflect the nature of continuous improvement to monitoring standards, advice and guidance in the UK. The JNCC have identified the