Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Data and Related Information (1999-)

The SEA portal is managed by the BGS on behalf of DECC and provides free access to downloadable data, information and reports which have been produced through the SEA process. The Department of Trade and Industry (now DECC) began a sequence of sectoral SEAs of the implications of further licensing of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) for oil and gas exploration and production in 1999. The SEA Process subdivided the UKCS into eight areas shown; beginning in 2008, integrated Offshore Energy SEAs have been undertaken that cover the whole UKCS. An integral part of the SEA programme has been a series of research and monitoring surveys commissioned to acquire new data about the offshore environment and used to help inform the relevant SEAs. Many files can be downloaded directly from portal. Those that are too large to download can be ordered via the website for postal delivery from BGS.