Electronic Monitoring System
We are tasked by both the Marine Management
Organisation and the Welsh Assembly Government to provide
information supplied by the Electronic Monitoring System (EMS).
This system must be installed on all vessels dredging for marine
minerals in British waters, as required under:
- the Environmental Impact Assessment and Natural Habitats
(Extraction of Minerals by Marine Dredging) (England and Northern
Ireland) Regulations 2007
- the Environmental Impact Assessment and Natural Habitats
(Extraction of Minerals by Marine Dredging) (Wales) Regulations
2007.
Our role
We provide data, based on the information automatically
collected from the EMS equipment installed on dredging vessels, and
report any identified discrepancies to the relevant regulatory
authorities. The Crown Estate continues to monitor EMS data for
their own purposes and provide a helpdesk facility for EMS
operators.
We do not undertake investigation or enforcement activities on
behalf of the regulatory authorities. As such, our role is very
much "behind the scenes", so industry representatives should not
expect to hear directly from Cefas regarding EMS.
Should you know of a specific out-of-area dredging incident and
wish to make us aware of that, please email us with the supporting
information. Your email should be marked for the attention of the
EMS Manager to ems@cefas.co.uk.
For further information or general queries regarding our role in
the EMS, please contact marineaggregates@cefas.co.uk.