On Wednesday 29 April 2020, the European Marine Board will organise the 7th EMB Forum on 'Big Data'. At the event, representatives from policy, industry, NGO's and science will discuss with data specialists with the aim of exploring how big data can be used now and in the future to support marine scientific research. The EMB Future Science Brief n°6 'Big Data in Marine Science' will also be launched during the forum. This paper will provide an assessment of the current status, challenges and solutions for the implementation of the Big Data approach in support of marine science.