UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy (UKMMAS)
Marine Monitoring Protocols Database

Human Activities

The marine environment is a valuable ecological, economic and recreational resource. It is used for a variety of purposes including: fisheries, disposal of waste such as hazardous chemicals and dredged sediment, extractive uses such as aggregate dredging and oil and gas exploration and exploitation, and shipping. These activities exert pressures on marine ecosystems that can degrade the state of the environment. The following list of pressures has been assembled from a variety of sources including the proposed UK Marine Bill, the proposed EU Marine Strategy Directive and the Environment Agency’s Article 5 risk assessments for the Water Framework Directive.

To find a particular activity, either use the search box or check the ‘ALL records’ box to view all activities. Click ‘View’ for a definition of that activity and a list of the pressures that arise from it.

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Your query has returned 37 records 
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ActivityDefinition
Abstraction and flow regulationThe removal of water from the marine environment, and/or the anthropogenic regulation of flow by barrages, wiers or other permanent structures
Activities leading to emissions of Green House GasesEmissions of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride from human activities such as transport, power generation, agriculture and industry
Aggregate extractionThe extraction of material from the seabed for economic profit
AgricultureAgriculture includes horticulture, arable crops, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, and land used for growth of fodder crops.
AnchoringThe use of a heavy object to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point. There are two main types of anchor - temporary and permanent (often called a mooring).
Barrages, weirs and sluicesConstruction of barrages, sluices and weirs for flood control, power generation, water level control (for ports, harbours and marinas etc)
Bio-prospectingThe exploration for, and expolitation of biodiversity particualry in deep seas for resources, be they genetic or biochemical or both, for use in purely scientific and or commercial endeavours
BoatingThe use of leisure craft such as motor boats, rowing boats and yachts
Carbon capture and storageStorage of carbon dioxide in deep geological formations (such as depleted oil reservoirs, depleted natural gas fields, deep saline aquifers and unmineable coal seams), or in the deep oceans
Carbon dioxide emissions from transport, power generation etc.Emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride from human activities such as transport, power generation, agriculture and industry
Commercial FishingThe removal of fish from the environment by humans
DesalinationThe removal of salt or other minerals from (sea)water in order to obtain freshwater for animal or human consumption or irrigation
Diving - recreational and otherwiseSnorkelling, swimming underwater with and without breathing apparatus
Dredge DisposalThe disposal of material which originates from the seabed
DredgingThe removal of material from the seabed
Excavation and recovery of wrecksThe excavation and recovery of any vessel or craft which is disabled, and is aground or has sunk, and which is not being salvaged
Fuel reprocessingProcesses that separate usable elements (eg uranium and plutonium) from fission products and other materials in spent nuclear reactor fuel
Historic disposal/dumping of munitionsHistoric disposal/dumping of munitions
IndustryOperations, functions and processes involved in industrial production
Land ReclaimationAlteration of the state of the seabed for land use