In the execution of a national plan, advice and evaluation of content and progress is essential. The scale of a plan may formalise and retard evaluation, and impose an undesirable reporting and 'response' burden on the agencies and individuals attempting to implement a plan. We recommend that the evaluations should be kept at small scale, in the interests of rapid execution. The Academies and learned institutions may represent a useful resource for implementation of advisory and evaluation processes. Apart from the simple scale of coverage needed, plurality of vessels is important in terms of diversity of missions and capabilities, carrying and crewing capacity, access and operating efficiency, and the need for seasonal coverage.
Research vessels make an attractive target for rationalisation.
While the successful operation of vessels such as the RV Franklin has demonstrated the importance of maintaining a close professional connection between the vessel and its scientific users, the inefficiencies of fractional usage demand address. Without such a framework, observations remain limited by their accessibility to users and their integrated value is largely lost. It is already recognised how important Australia's management of tidal data has been. Historically this is largely true, but a revolution in data-gathering and processing capability has made direct access to data products by all potential users a practical possibility. A national plan should acknowledge this possibility and actively promote the integration of product development and operational product delivery as an essential component of national data management strategy.