Category:

Scotland’s marine protected areas (MPAs) are in the balance. The Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead is in the process of signing-off crucial documents that will indicate the proposed future management for Scotland’s MPAs. We are concerned that certain types of fishing which can damage seafloor habitats will be allowed to continue in large areas of the new MPAs. That’s why we continue to call that our representatives: ‘DontTakeTheP’ out of MPAs.

The decision about how the Scottish Government intends to manage Scotland’s new nature conservation MPAs will perhaps be the most obvious signal yet of just how progressive our Government is in terms of its marine policy. There is a choice: maintain the status quo, which has seen the steady and unchecked decline of biodiversity in our seas, or manage for the future, by (more…)

Comments closed

Artist Julia Barton has a good idea. She is convinced that art can make a difference to the health of our coastal environments. So she set up the Littoral Art Project in 2013 and is now crowdfunding for an innovative tool that could help change the way we think about the litter problem on our beaches. Read her story here (and please consider chipping in to help with the project. She needs £3,000 by 4th May…)

It first started after walking on a beach in Wester Ross in 2012. Artist Julia Barton, quite literally experienced ‘a fear of drowning’ in litter. “As I walked along the strandline I became sickened by the number of plastic objects: trays, buoys, bottles, ropes, toys, cups, cigarette lighters,” she explained. “Looking closer, I realised that the seaweed was heavily laced with thousands of small pieces of cord, rope, (more…)

Comments closed

As winner of the world’s largest award for grassroots environmental activists, Howard Wood is dedicated to marine conservation in Scotland and calls for progressive management of Scotland’s new marine protected areas

Howard Wood, diver and marine conservationist from the Isle of Arran is the Europe winner of the 2015 Goldman Prize – the international environmental equivalent of the Oscars. It is richly-deserved. As one of the founders of the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST), Mr Wood helped spearhead a campaign for Scotland’s first (more…)

Comments closed

People across Scotland are waking up to the fact that what happens in our seas increasingly affects us all. And that the policies which determine the way we use our seas are something we, as voters, can influence.

What evidence is there of this? The recent Parliamentary debate of Scotland’s first National Marine Plan was a bit of a watershed moment  (and just one of quite a few recent events that we list below).

It gave strong recognition to the many organisations and people who have a strong interest in the sustainable use of our seas. ‘Offshore’ decision-making is arguably still synonymous with the development of the oil and gas industry; and these significant economic interests, such as multinational energy companies and fishing quota owners, continue to shape Scotland’s marine policy. However, increasingly, a wider cross-section of society (more…)

Comments closed

How we manage our deep seas and offshore fisheries are vital questions for Scotland’s future. And yet democratic opportunities for public feedback are few and far between. Our blog explores the problem and suggests a few solutions…

Within 12 nautical miles of Scotland’s coastline are Scotland’s territorial waters, our inshore. But our Scottish Government also has executively devolved responsibility for the management of our offshore waters, from 12nm-200nm. This is a vast area, covering 371,859 square kilometres, around three times our land mass and a volume of sea that is difficult to conceive. It is also brimming with natural assets that we still don’t know that much about yet. What we do know is that many areas of deep sea are fragile, rich, slow-growing habitats which sustain incredible (more…)

Comments closed

Our campaign blog explains how marine planning is the key to embedding sustainability and why the Scottish Government has no choice but to challenge the status quo.

Public discussion of the ‘National Marine Plan’ recently debated in Holyrood – and published on 27th March – revealed Scottish politicians’ varied approaches to sustainability and marine development. It wasn’t a well-attended debate; perhaps only 20 MSPs were present in the chamber, but it highlighted the increasing awareness by our representatives of the importance of marine policy, not just as some technocratic exercise in carving up a remote resource, but as a pressing issue of public interest. The debate signalled just how far we have come and that Scotland’s politicians are listening to the many and growing champions (more…)

Comments closed

An order paving the way for 11 new Scottish Marine Regions has finally been laid before Scottish Parliament. This document has been in bureaucratic limbo for quite some time now. Although the concept of regional-level marine planning received support from the vast majority (88%) of those who responded to the Government consultation, there have clearly been some finer details on boundaries that have caused ‘technical’ delay. Until the Order has been passed the areas of planning responsibility cannot technically be determined, and therefore it has not been possible to finally constitute new Regional Marine Planning Partnerships (RMPPs). The RMPPs – due to be rolled out region-by-region over several years – are a vital part of the Scottish Government’s strategy to enable more localised and responsive planning for marine issues.

The new regions are proposed for the following areas: Argyll, Clyde, Forth & Tay, Moray Firth, North Coast, North East, Outer Hebrides, Orkney Islands, Shetland Isles, Solway and West Highlands.

The Order does not determine the powers and responsibilities of the new RMPPs; it simply sets out their geographic remit. And although the development of Regional Marine Plans are not a requirement of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, we would hope to see such Plans covering the fully extent of each Marine Region.

The Order is currently with the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee and it is expected that the Rural Affairs, Climate Change & Environment committee will examine the post-consultation detail of the Order. (RACCE’s members have provided some healthily robust feedback to the National Marine Plan recently). The Order must then be approved by the Scottish Parliament.

Comments closed

Environmental groups have expressed reservations about today’s publication of Scotland’s first National Marine Plan. Following several years of consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny, the Plan paves the way for a more coordinated approach to developments at sea. A coalition of environmental groups have welcomed the general principles underpinning the Plan, but remain concerned that it supports growth for some sectors which could risk environmental health of the seas.

Calum Duncan, Convenor of Scottish Environment LINK’s marine taskforce and Scotland Programme Manager for Marine Conservation Society: “On the whole we are very supportive of the Plan and its purpose of ensuring the sustainable development and stewardship our seas, but the inclusion of targets to expand salmon farming which have not been fully assessed is cause for concern. For the first time in history, (more…)

Comments closed

Members of this campaign are deeply concerned that potential new management measures for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) risk failing to protect and recover the very sea life which MPAs have been set up to protect. We have produced a video which aims to graphically explain the situation and why we must avoid “bureaucracy without benefits.”

The proposals issued by the Scottish Government outline a range of scenarios for 20 inshore MPAs, some of which would allow fishing methods such as scallop-dredging and bottom-trawling to continue to damage seabed habitats. This on-going damage to the seafloor has wider, knock-on impacts for our other marine life such as fish, seabirds and marine mammals, which move around, feeding and breeding in these important areas of our sea. The plans are subject to public consultation which closes on 2nd February 2015. Having assessed the consultation options, we are urging people to support stronger protection and support our ACTION: #DontTakeTheP

Comments closed

The details of a trail-blazing, high-level plan for managing Scotland’s seas have been revealed by the Scottish Government this week. Scotland’s National Marine Plan is the first ever overarching strategy for planning the wide-ranging activities in Scotland’s sea. Members of this campaign have cautiously welcomed the latest publication as a step-change for the marine environment, as it finally sets in motion a planning system for the sea, over 50 years after such a system was created for developments on land. However, we remain concerned that the Plan will be of limited use for regional and local planners until more detailed guidance is produced for coordinating (more…)

Comments closed