The Marine Environment Monitoring Group (MEMG), formally known
as the Marine Pollution Monitoring Management Group (MPMMG) up
until 1st June 2003, is chaired by the Centre for
Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) on behalf of
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra).
It is one of the four sector groups (Marine
Processes and Climate, Marine Environmental Quality, Marine
Habitats and Species and Marine Fisheries) co-ordinated by Defra
which reports to the Marine Monitoring Coordination Group.
MEMG represents the Marine Environmental Quality sector. The
focus of monitoring effort for MEMG therefore is in relation to
anthropogenic inputs to marine systems, especially hazardous
substances, nutrients and physical disturbance.
MEMG 's aim is to ensure that environmental quality monitoring
of the marine environment is conducted in a co-ordinated way, is as
cost-effective as possible and meets national and international
requirements, especially for the EU Water Framework Directive
(WFD), the
OSPAR
Joint Assessment Monitoring Programme (JAMP) and the EU Marine
Strategy.
A number of sub groups report to MEMG most notably; i. the WFD
Marine Task Team (MTT) , ii. the National Marine Monitoring
Programme (NMMP) Working Group, iii. the Group Coordinating Sea
Disposal activities (GCSDM) and iv. the Defra
nutrients/eutrophication group.
JNCC represents the UK conservation agencies on this
group and provides information on the existing and anticipated
monitoring activity within the conservation sector.