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Something important is happening. For the first time in years, we (Scotland) are having an increasingly open debate about how we fish our inshore waters. These issues are usually confined to the clipped minutes of a regional fisheries meeting, quayside chat between skippers, or the dry consultation correspondence on proposed technical regulations. Over the years there has been very little media coverage of one of the most significant ongoing problems: how do we best manage our inshore waters, which have suffered from decades of lack of management, resulting in declining species and habitats and which are now experiencing intensive fishing competition.

But on Monday night, a programme aired on prime time TV – a documentary called ‘Prawn Wars’ as part of BBC Scotland’s Landward – Prawn Wars series. It was followed by a live debate on Scotland 2015, BBC Scotland’s flagship current affairs slot.

It was a watershed moment. It focussed on the very real and pressing (more…)

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This blog has attempted to chart the long, and sometimes torturous, process of setting up Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scotland. Many of you may be wondering what is happening with Scotland’s MPAs? Are they going to be paper parks? Or are they finally going to help reverse the fortunes of our inshore waters, which have suffered such serious ecological decline? Before wading into the detail of this post, we urge you to read our Running History of MPAs in Scotland. If you’ve seen that, read on…

There is a lot of noise around the MPAs right now. Some (not all) fishing groups are criticising the MPA process at a crucial stage. We need to re-wind a bit here to understand why this is the case. And to fully grasp the situation, we also need to understand the structure of the Scottish fishing industry.

A few weeks ago, Marine Scotland (more…)

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In response to the Scottish Government’s announcement of fisheries management in Scottish Marine Protected Areas:
Calum Duncan, Convenor of Scottish Environment LINK’s marine taskforce and Scotland Programme Manager, Marine Conservation Society said: “Our ‘Don’t Take The P out of MPAs’ campaign has struck a chord. Thousands of people wrote to the Scottish Government urging them to avoid creating paper parks – and Ministers are now clearly starting to listen, by proposing that larger areas of the seabed be protected from damaging fishing activities. We will now be looking closely at the newly-drafted measures to make sure they fulfil the clear and widespread public expectation that MPAs should be managed to recover the ecological health of our seas. We are making a strong social, economic and environmental case for meaningful management that protects our precious seabed and boosts future opportunities for sustainable fishing.”
Kara Brydson, Head of Marine Policy, RSPB Scotland said: “Too often fishermen are blamed for the declining health of our seas, but here we see that by excluding the most damaging fishing activity from our most sensitive wildlife, fishermen are part of the solution.” (more…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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.

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