The need for effective stewardship of the marine environment through
integrated management, balancing the requirements for development and
exploitation with nature conservation and legislation, has been widely
recognised. However, implementing such a strategy requires a significant
knowledge of the nature of the sea bed. Acquiring such knowledge in the
central and eastern English Channel (Figure 1) has been a focus of the
Marine Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (MALSF) since 2005. The MALSF
has funded a series of surveys to acquire high resolution data and its
subsequent interpretation, along with other data, using a multi-disciplinary
approach including geologists, biologists and archaeologists. This has
produced a great deal of beneficial cooperation and interaction between
these disciplines and enhanced the quality of the interpretations and results