Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer to Question 136780, on British Overseas Territories: Marine Protected Areas, which Blue Belt programme activities those payments of Marine Management Organisation staff salaries were associated with in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18.

Under the Blue Belt initiative during 2016-2017, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) staffing costs were primarily focused on initial programme development and assessment of Overseas Territory (OT) needs. The MMO undertook assessment of the effectiveness of satellite surveillance trials across the relevant OT, undertook a baseline assessment of new and innovative technologies to complement maritime enforcement and provided legal drafting support to St Helena Government.

During 2017-2018, MMO established a central compliance and enforcement intelligence hub in the UK's National Maritime Information Centre to develop risk analysis profiles for each of the relevant OTs and provide technical support to OTs in monitoring incursions in their waters. The MMO supported the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands in developing a clearer fisheries compliance framework; comprehensive compliance and enforcement training to the British Indian Ocean Territory and supported enforcement patrols in Tristan da Cunha and Ascension.