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…)
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.
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…)
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
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…)
Members of this campaign are deeply concerned that potential new management measures for Marine Protected Areas – announced this week – risk failing to protect and recover the very sea life which MPAs have been set up to protect. We are now launching a joint campaign urging the people of Scotland to tell the Scottish Government: ‘Don’t take the P out of MPAs.’
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 now the subject of a three month long public consultation, as Scottish Government staff tour coastal communities throughout November and December. Having assessed the consultation options, we are urging people to support stronger protection and support our ACTION: #DontTakeTheP
See below for more reaction from the campaign members: (more…)
Today, the first ever Marine Conservation Order (MCO) was approved by the Scottish Parliament. The MCO – approved via a short-notice emergency procedure initiated by Marine Scotland, excludes all forms of fishing – and indeed any activity that could damage the seabed – in three areas near to the southern shores of the Isle of Arran. As many will know, North Lamlash Bay is the site of Scotland’s first and only No Take Zone and so this recent event in the Clyde once again marks a significant moment in the long and evolving story of Scotland’s seas.
Straight up, it is important to say that it is unfortunate that the emergency MCO was needed in the first place. A temporary, voluntary closure to mobile, (more…)
Caryophylilia smithii – how does this feature relate to protection of MPAs?
In August, Glasgow hosted the International Marine Conservation Congress. This was a big deal. Over an intense week, the world’s most creative and motivated minds in marine science gathered together to discuss solutions to the urgent problems facing our shared ocean. It was also – in domestic terms – very timely. Here in Scotland, we have just put in place 30 new Marine Protected Areas; countries all across the globe are beginning to develop MPAs. The eyes of the world’s marine conservation and planning community were on Scotland’s contribution to the debate. So what did they think? The opinion-soup of social media is an imperfect tool for monitoring such things, but well… so are feedback forms, so here’s (more…)
This month, the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs Climate Change & Environment (RACCE) Committee took the welcome step of exercising its role of post-legislative scrutiny – and lent its analytical lens to the important issue of Marine Protected Area project and its continued implementation. For anyone not following the detail of what has been a complex three year process, please read this and this. After literally years of campaigning that has slowly encouraged legislative change, we now actually have new MPAs. 30 of them. In the water. Backed up by Scots and UK law. The big question that people now have is:
are they enough? (given that in ecological terms, Scotland’s seas need a serious dose of TLC – for more ref, read Our Precious Sea Areas need to rest)
what difference will they make?
Gratefully these were some of the questions that were being grappled with by the Scottish Parliament’s RACCE Committee in two separate sessions on the 13th August and 20th August. The first of the evidence sessions included a host of eminent marine scientists specialising in benthic, seabird and sea mammal conservation as well as representatives of Scottish fishermen, Scottish renewables companies and (more…)
Fig 1 showing MPA boundary and target fisheries management areas
The Wester Ross MPA was put forward as a 3rd party community proposal and is of clear cultural and socio-economic importance to the proponents. This area has historically boasted a rich and diverse marine ecosystem and, while many key species and habitats are still found within the MPA, local residents and marine users have witnessed first-hand the impacts caused by damaging activities and a decline in biodiversity.
By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
