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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…)

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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

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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.

Target areas of management, developed as (more…)

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This case study illustrates why the emerging management for Scotland’s new nature conservation MPAs looks likely to fall short of delivering adequate protection of the Small Isles MPA.

Fig 1: showing MPA boundary and target fisheries management areas

LINK members fully support the Small Isles possible MPA, recently designated for the conservation of a number of features[1], all of which are key components in the marine ecosystem of western Scotland. Many of these features have declined as a result of impacts from activities such as fishing, and their populations are of concern or are in critical condition. (more…)

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