Sea trout, like many species in Scotland’s waters, are in decline. And not just a gradual decline; in some regions they are on a disturbing trajectory towards local extinction, having fallen by over 75% in 20 years [1]. Government advice infers from the latest sea trout rod catch statistics that spawning levels of this fish are at historically low levels.[2] This is bad news for obvious ecological reasons. It is also bad news for very interconnected economic ones.
Sea trout are part of the natural, social and economic fabric of Scotland. For millennia a part of our diet, Scottish sea trout and salmon now attract anglers from all over the world.
A study in 2004 revealed that recreational anglers for sea trout and salmon spent a total of £73m in Scotland annually[3]. This is undoubtedly a substantial annual contribution to the coastal and rural areas of Scotland’s economy. A 1999 study suggested indirect and induced impacts of angling on the Western Isles economy amounted to £5.6m and accounted for 260 full time equivalent jobs – 2.7% of the working population[4].
These economic studies make clear that healthy stocks of sea trout and salmon are vital to the rural economy. And widespread declines in sea trout mean these financial benefits to local communities are under threat. The reasons for the declines vary throughout the country, but in the west where the issue is most pressing, they are mostly linked to the spread of disease. And again one thing is obvious; we need to act. Much work is already being done to conserve sea trout in river systems, but there is more we can do to protect sea trout in the marine environment.
What can we do about this? Like salmon, sea trout move from freshwater into salt-water, but rather than migrating across the Atlantic like their salmonid cousins, sea trout spend the marine stage of their life cycle in inshore and estuarial waters. It is here that they are particularly vulnerable and where they are known to pick up lethal infections of sealice.
It is for this reason that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can help to protect sea trout. Sea trout are classed as a ‘Priority Marine Feature’ under new Scottish marine legislation and although they are not being used as one of the features to drive the selection of MPA sites, it is essential that once the sites have been identified, some must be managed specifically for the protection of sea trout and other migratory fish such as salmon. MPAs could also be managed to enhance the marine habitats and food sources which sea trout rely upon, for example by protecting eelgrass beds, maerl beds and sandeels.
Alongside other conservation measures, MPAs therefore could provide a vital boost to migratory fish in Scotland’s marine and freshwater environment. This of course is an end in itself – studies show that people are glad simply to know that fish live in our rivers[5]. But the potential trickle-down effects in the form of secure – and possibly increased – revenue from recreational game fishing is just one demonstration of how the health of our economy is underpinned by environmental health.
Despite such a compelling case, these nature conservation Marine Protected Areas are not yet in place. At the end of 2012, the Scottish Government received advice from SNH and JNCC on 33 MPA proposals and four MPA search locations in Scottish waters. Members of the Save Scottish Seas campaign remain seriously concerned about gaps in the network and its adequacy for the protection of certain important marine species and habitats. The campaign is therefore committed to helping make the MPA network as well-managed and ecologically coherent as possible.
This summer there is a public consultation about the proposed network. Find out how you can show your support for a strong, well-managed and ecologically-coherent network of Marine Protected Areas by visiting the Save Scottish Seas ‘get involved’ page…
[Updated from original article on 23rd August, 2013]
Independent councillor for Lerwick South on Shetland Islands Council Dr Jonathan Wills argues that current plans risk creating conservation ‘islands’ in a sea of escalating industrial development…
The crew of an alien spacecraft, entering the Earth’s atmosphere over the north of Scotland, could not fail to be impressed by the beauty of Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides.
Being even more sophisticated and better equipped than most civil servants, our visitors from Planet Dork would immediately recognise that these islands are part of an intricate, varied and very fragile ecosystem. Sensors on board the spaceship, as it skimmed southwestwards from Muckle Flugga to the Mull of Kintyre, would also notice that the most biodiverse and productive part of the ecosystem lies under the sea (something the seers of St Andrews House have not yet registered). The Mekon piloting the ship would probably clap a preservation order on the lot, for aesthetic if not economic reasons, before flying on to have his wicked way with the cities of the plains between the Ochils and the Pentlands.
The Mekon? That dates me. He was the sinister alien in the Eagle comic’s ‘Dan Dare’ strip in the 1950s. Sometimes I feel the Mekon’s already taken us over. It’s more than five years now since the new Scottish Government decided not to go ahead with an imaginative plan to create Scotland’s first National Marine Parks, apparently because some rich fishermen didn’t like the idea (and also, perhaps, because the Lab-Lib Coalition at Holyrood had promoted it). Instead, we’ve had a series of Special Areas of Conservation and Marine Protected Areas. These are all very well and worthy but, when I recently re-read the papers I wrote in 2006, advocating the proposed Shetland National Marine Park, I found that the argument for much larger protected areas was stronger than ever.
The basic problem, underwater, is that we’re creating conservation ‘islands’ in a sea of escalating industrial development, just as we’ve been doing on land for such a long time. Rather than saying “this place is beautiful, special and we must preserve as much of it as possible if we want to have thriving fishing and tourist industries for our grandchildren”, the attitude seems to be “if you want to keep some little bits pristine then you’ll have to make the case for it and ensure the fishermen, the fossil fuel industry and the cable layers are kept happy”. This partial, piecemeal approach to marine planning repeats the errors of the terrestrial planning industry which (and I quote a planning officer whom I recently questioned about the new Planning Act) always has a “presumption in favour of development.”
Piecemeal conservation isn’t conservation at all, because it fails to recognise that habitats such as the luxuriant Shetland kelp forest and its amazing caves, encrusted by a riot of corals and creatures that rival the Great Barrier Reef, are part of a vast ecosystem fringing western Europe from southwest Ireland to northern Norway. Offshore, where it’s too deep and dark for seaweed, there’s even more biodiversity, as the oil industry’s own surveys have revealed over the past 40 years. If you break it up into isolated bits you’re likely to damage it by far more than the sum of the fragmented pieces.
Of course we need somewhere for the fishermen to fish, but it would be in their own interests if we kept heavy trawls and scallop dredgers out of the 12 mile limit. Of course we need undersea cables, not least to develop wind, wave and tidal power on the islands, and the cable tracks would add to the area of no-catch zones where fish stocks might recover after a century of over-fishing, without the risk of pollution that comes with oil platforms and floating production and storage vessels. Until renewables are far more developed than they are today, we also need oil and gas, but at what cost to the tiny animals that live on and under the seabed, and which in turn are food for commercial fish?
It’s the developers who should have to argue the case for making a hole in the blanket of conservation, a blanket that ought to be in place already, if we’re serious about “sustainability”. At this rate there’ll soon be more holes than blanket. If you doubt this, look at a chart of the platforms, pipelines, submarine cables and heavily trawled fishing grounds in the North Sea. It looks like a painting of a rat’s nest by Jackson Pollock.
The ‘presumption in favour of development’ is epitomised by what’s happening in the final phase of the fossil fuel industry on the “Atlantic Frontier”. As I write this, I’ve been asked to comment on the Westminster Government’s draft oilspill contingency plans[1] for the west Shetland oil and gas fields, in water almost as deep as, and considerably stormier than, the Gulf of Mexico. The LibberTories say it’s acceptable that the only insurance cover for a Macondo-style blowout west of Shetland is a voluntary scheme run by the companies, with a kitty of just $250m. That wouldn’t pay the flights and hotel bills of the workers who’d have to wipe clean Shetland’s 1600-mile coastline of beaches, cliffs, caves and kelp forests, if and when the big one happened. But it’s OK, folks – the plan says if the cost were more than $250m ($2.5bn is not unlikely) then the victims of pollution would be able to sue the miscreants in the courts. Oh, goody! If the Amoco Cadiz and Exxon Valdez cases are anything to go by, it could take 10 to 20 years to settle, by which time some of the claimants will, conveniently, be dead. There oughta be a law.
(This article was submitted end of November 2012).
Marine wildlife photographer Paul Kay explains why he sees underwater photography as an important tool for helping to protect and recover Scotland’s seas.
I contributed images to the Save Scottish Seas campaign, because I believe passionately that we have got to do everything in our power to safeguard our marine wildlife for future generations.
In just 30 years – the length of time I have been taking underwater photographs – I have been privileged to explore many parts of Scotland’s incredibly diverse seas, from sheltered sea-lochs to the most exposed islands and stacs around St Kilda. In that time I have seen many amazingly beautiful creatures and spectacular underwater scenery. Despite Scottish seas being cold they have areas of world-class marine life and habitats.
Paul Kay supplied this photograph of Nephrops norvegicus beside its burrow for the Save Scottish Seas campaign.
Sadly I have also seen areas which have been damaged or used badly too. It is essential to appreciate that, whilst out of sight, our marine environment is an extremely important part of our world. This is not just because I am environmentally aware, but because we depend on it for food – and many do so for their livelihoods.
Paul Kay supplied this photograph of Sea loch anenomes and brittlestars for the Save Scottish Seas campaign.
I think photos are an important tool for showing what goes on under the surface. Just as we would never know what the surface of the moon looks like unless we’d been there and taken photographic evidence, our seabeds are just as mysterious to us without pictures to illuminate their wonder. Although it is sometimes difficult for me to imagine, the vast majority of people will probably never dive beneath the surface of Scotland’s rich seas and will never see them firsthand. But whether you visit a kelp forest or a local wood, I think we all collectively take tremendous strength from simply knowing that our seas are healthy and rich in sealife.
Marine Protected Areas are one step towards helping secure a future for our seas, increasingly under pressure from human activities, in a way that balances everyone’s interests for the long-term.
Paul Kay is based on the North Wales coast and undertakes photographic work throughout the UK and beyond. www.paulkayphotography.co.uk
WDC has handed over a huge 36,736 signatures from members of the public to Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment, asking the Scottish Government to include whales and dolphins in Scotland’s new marine protected area network.
The handover of the signatures at the Scottish parliament by WDC’s head of policy in Scotland, Sarah Dolman, leading international minke whale expert, Dr Mike Tetley, and Ruaraigh the inflatable Risso’s dolphin was made just a day before Mr Lochhead made a public announcement regarding the Government’s plans for its marine protected area (MPA) network.
In February, WDC launched its campaign to ensure whales and dolphins are included in the list of species to be protected when the Scottish Government makes its decision on which areas of Scottish seas will be protected. In just a few months, WDC has received nearly 37,000 responses from concerned members of the public (including over 100 Scottish and international marine scientists) demonstrating the extreme level of feeling on the matter.
“We have been overwhelmed by the level of support received from the Scottish and international public on this matter and the sheer numbers speak for themselves. We are very pleased that Mr Lochhead agreed to meet with us to receive the signatures and so acknowledge the passionate public feeling on this matter”, said Sarah Dolman.
“Scotland’s seas are truly outstanding, and the Scottish MPA network is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect and showcase our amazing whales and dolphins along with other nationally important species and habitats.
“We know that the Scottish Government has the scientific data needed to include whales and dolphins in the MPA network – we helped supply it! They now have to choose whether to provide whales and dolphins with protected areas or to continue to neglect some of Scotland’s most iconic and precious marine species.”
The Scottish Government’s report to the Scottish Parliament contains no commitments to set up MPAs for the priority Scottish species identified, including minke whales, Risso’s dolphins, white beaked dolphins and basking sharks.
You can share this poster on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SaveScottishSeas (Picture by Paul Kay)
‘Protect your bottom line.’ It’s one of the oldest tenets in business; an essential reminder to look after what’s most important. If you don’t look after your bottom line, you might as well forget the rest. It’s a piece of financial wisdom that is extremely relevant to the health of our marine environment. And if we take it seriously, we all stand to gain – from fishermen, restauranteurs and shoreside B&Bs to society at large which benefits from vibrant, resilient coastal communities. So what is that vital ‘bottom line’ of our seas? It is, of course, the seabed.
The seabed performs fundamental and varied roles in sustaining marine life. In dark, deep waters, it recycles the nutrients that flow through the complex ocean food web. In shallower, inshore waters it also provides vital habitats for the spectacular range of organisms that Scotland’s seas are famous for.
On land, if we don’t have soil, we don’t have the complex communities of plants, insects, birds and mammals. Our seabed communities are no different. Below Scotland’s waves, our rocky reefs are home to many thousands of species such as the sea loch anenomes and brittlestars on this poster. The sands, gravels and muds beyond our reefs host equally diverse life. Our entire seabed is a complex living, breathing ecosystem which supports fragile reefs, rich sediments and kelp forests that in turn provide vital nursery and feeding grounds for the larger commercial fish and shellfish.
And so it doesn’t take a marine scientist to work out that if we don’t have a healthy seabed, we don’t have a fully productive sea. And that means, conversely, that many of the economic benefits provided by the sea rely upon us looking after our seabed.
Now for a few worrying facts:
It is highly likely that there are no ‘pristine’ marine ecosystems left on Scotland’s continental shelf and the deepwater habitats beyond are declining
Human exploitation across swathes of Scotland’s seabed is a matter of concern. Trawling and dredging can damage fragile habitats such as maerl beds, sponge fields, flameshell beds and fields of tall seapen. And relatively modern fishing practices such as bottom trawling using rock-hopping gear now impact upon previously unreachable rocky habitats
Maerl grows at 1mm per year. A complex maerl bed – which acts as a nursery for juvenile fish – can take several decades to develop.
So what role could Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) play in improving this picture and reversing some of the damage we have already done? MPAs are basically a tool for working out what we need to protect and recover in our seas so that we can secure an ‘ecologically coherent network’ for future generations. MPAs offer a way of doing this. It is a more strategic approach to marine management and relies upon us all sharing our knowledge for the common good – the health of our seas.
This process is now under way and we cannot get it wrong. If we properly protect and recover our seabed, we will be investing in the long-term health of our seas and the many communities and local economies that depend on it. That would be good news for divers, anglers, fishermen and … everyone.
The seabed truly is the marine bottom line.
The Marine Conservation Society, supported by it’s many Seasearch trained divers, spends a lot of time recording seabed species and habitats and using that information to advocate for their protection. In the Scottish MPA proposals put before the Scottish Parliament on 14th December, MCS co-ordinated Seasearch information supported the case for greater inclusion of sea lochs and augmented other proposals such as for the Small Isles and south Arran. As a member of the Save Scottish Seas campaign, it is a strong proponent of MPAs. You can pledge your support for a robust network of MPAs for Scotland on the MCS website.
Plans announced today (14th December 2012) for 33 nature conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been welcomed by a coalition of Scotland’s environmental groups as an important step towards the much-needed recovery of Scotland’s seas.
Scottish Environment LINK’s marine taskforce contends that a network of Marine Protected Areas cannot afford to simply protect what’s left in Scotland’s seas, otherwise the marine environment will continue to decline. The eight organisations who collectively represent 460,000 memberships, believe that a network of MPAs must actively help recover the seabed and the marine life it supports, implementing the ambition of national legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament over two years ago. (more…)
Picking up on recent research that looks at the economics of setting up a network of Scottish MPAs, Chris Williams of new economic foundation (nef) explains why the valuation of ‘ecosystems services’ are rising up everyone’s agenda.
One must acknowledge the intrinsic value of nature. It is essential. It is priceless. However, in order to inform policy decisions it is useful to understand how we benefit from nature (i.e. the services they provide) and what the cost for protecting it is, we need to have an approach that can value the environment in a way that reflects this immense and in many senses unquantifiable value.
Measuring those benefits, in order to make the case for conserving those areas which provide the highest benefits to human populations, or those which are of most importance in terms of biodiversity or most under threat, is a key step in making the case for their protection.
Looking at valuing the marine environment is an important aspect of work that NGOs working in the world of marine conservation and fisheries are concerned with. Although it is completely clear that ‘pricing the priceless’ is impossible and whatever values are calculated will inevitably be an underestimation of the true value of nature, within the confines of our current system, it is part of the necessary toolkit to inform decisions. For example, in Scotland a study has just been released, which shows that the benefits of a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scotland range from £6.3 – £10 Billion over the next 20 years.
The estimated benefits include those that we benefit from directly by exploiting the environment (either consumptive goods e.g. fisheries, or non-consumptive ones e.g. wildlife viewing) and indirect benefits that are derived from ecosystem functions that give rise to a ‘socially relevant endpoint’ (e.g. climate regulation from carbon sequestration in plants). Economists also like to talk about the ‘option’ value associated with an individual’s willingness to pay to protect the possibility of using a natural resource in the future. Then there are the non-use values such as the value an individual places on ensuring the availability of a natural resource to future generations, or the value placed on simply knowing that a natural resource is there.
The sea is a provider of food and materials for building (aggregates); it regulates our climate and produces oxygen and acts as a sink for carbon dioxide; and also provides other cultural benefits such as tourism and recreation. Some of these have clear market prices, some do not.
‘Rising on the agenda’ All of these benefits have been quantified (where possible) in the study and these considerations and approaches are now rising on the agenda when it comes to the marine environment.
With so much to be gained from conserving the marine environment and ensuring its use is sustainable, can we really afford not to? This brings us to why long-term thinking is problematic under the current paradigm and favours short-termism (myopia) over true sustainability:
Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is currently the main framework used to evaluate public spending decisions, mainly in the form of Impact Assessments . The importance of CBA in evaluating all costs and benefits throughout society is central to decision making in the UK . The central importance of discounting and discount rates has been discussed many times and is a key issue which makes conservation seem like a bad investment: the benefits we derive from nature conservation often take a long period of time to materialise, especially in degraded environments. So the myopia resulting from economic decision making and ‘discounting the future’ means conservation does not look like it is worth investing in. The current discount rate we use (3.5% over 20 years ) does not reflect the reality that beyond the 20 year time horizon, the benefits may be even greater from having conservation areas within the marine environment. Is a source of protein around from our seas really going to be worth half of what it is now to people in the year 2032 (see graph below) or less than a third by 2050?
Graph 1: A discount rate of 3.5% from 2012 – 2050
The discussion about how to ‘’value nature’’ has been on-going for years. In its widest sense, the environmental, social and economic benefits of conserving natural habitats and ecosystems along with the species that inhabit them (our ‘natural capital’) are measured with regards to the services they provide to humans (‘ecosystem services’). Without this natural capital being in a functioning and healthy state, our long-term survival becomes difficult or impossible. The often-used but unhelpful utilitarian perspective (only looking at what goods and services we get out of nature) can only tell us part of the story.
So in order to specifically understand the benefits that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provide we ran a workshop in September as part of the Marine Socio Economics Project , a 30 month project to strengthen the socio-economic skills and capacity of marine NGOs. The five partners (WWF, MCS, Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB) sent key staff working on MPAs to Bristol, where a two day workshop presented the way that the benefits of MPAs (which include economic, social and environmental benefits) can be demonstrated, measured and used to inform government decision-making. The main case study discussed at the workshop was the English Marine Conservation Zone project (MCZ – a type of MPA), but work of this nature is going on throughout Britain, Europe and Globally, as the report from Scottish Environment LINK shows.
There is an inherent difficulty in demonstrating the value of ecosystem services and benefits to humans as a result of the designation of an MPA, but there is no doubt that our current economic approach is jeopardising food security, jobs, sustainability and the long-term future for people and the sea which surrounds us.
You can share this on Facebook. www.facebook.com/SaveScottishSeas Picture by Kaleel Zibe
It’s a slightly scary image: an Arctic tern in full, squawking flight. But it’s not half as scary as the message it carries. For the past 30 years, Scottish populations of Sterna paradisaea have been in free-fall, plummeting by 72% to less than 50,000 breeding pairs.
This is not an isolated story. Other Scottish seabird populations are in an equally worrying state. This year’s count of kittiwake colonies on the Orkney mainland reveals that numbers have fallen by 82% in just 12 years to 1,965 adults.
This not just a major environmental disaster – it’s potentially a profoundly social and economic one too. Parts of Scotland are recognised as world-class sites for bird-watching and people visit in their droves to view seabirds up close in their incredible cliff-side habitats. These welcome wildlife tourists buoy up the local economies of rural villages and towns around Scotland. A recent UK study by the RSPB has explored this secondary, but important, economic value of seabirds. (Local Value of Seabirds, 2012)
Imagine the Camarague without its Greater flamingos. The Shetland Isles without its kittiwakes, Arctic terns, fulmars and Arctic skuas, does not bear thinking about. Scotland’s reputation as a country of amazing natural scenery and wildlife is at stake.
So what have Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) got to do with this? Seabirds face a range of pressures such as food shortages, and the effects of climate change. Although breeding sites of Scottish seabirds are protected in many places, the places where they feed are not given the same attention. Less food at sea, means fewer birds able to breed. It’s simple.
Nature conservation Marine Protected Areas provide the perfect tool to protect and manage these feeding ‘hotspots’ out at sea, but no Scottish seabirds, except black guillemots, are currently included in the Scottish nature conservation MPA process.
RSPB Scotland (a member of Scottish Environment LINK’s marine taskforce that set up the Save Scottish Seas campaign) is calling out on behalf of Scottish seabirds for people to take action.
You can share this on Facebook. www.facebook.com/SaveScottishSeas
This tail belongs to a Humpback whale. Not a lot of people know it, but these majestic mammals visit Scottish waters every year, as well as over 25 other species of whale and dolphin – from minke whales to harbour porpoises.
And just as the whales and dolphins visit our seas, so do people – who visit our shores and charter boats to watch them.
This wildlife tourism generates substantial value to local economies. Dolphin watching in the Moray Firth, for example, was recently found to be worth more than £4 million each year and generating more than 200 equivalent full-time jobs.
Unfortunately, it’s not a completely pretty picture. Not only are some species of whales and dolphins still recovering from decades of international overfishing, but they continue to struggle in a pressured marine environment too. Strandings resulting from the noise pollution of seismic surveys and unintentional entanglements in fishing nets are just some of the difficulties that whale and dolphin populations face.
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) represent a vital method for managing our busy seas and helping to protect our marine wildlife. For those areas that are of vital importance to whale and dolphin populations, MPAs could help to mitigate the impacts of damaging activities. (Read WDC’s ‘All about MPAs for more information). Yet current plans for MPAs by the Scottish Government have not included whales and dolphins (or cetaceans as they are known scientifically) in the MPA network – due to be consulted on in summer 2013.
Whale & Dolphin Conservation, a member of the Save Scottish Seas campaign, is ‘up in arms’ about this. Check out their video and sign the petition. (This petition has since closed: check out how many people signed it….)
Creating a network of Scottish marine protected areas (MPAs) could provide benefits to Scotland to the tune of £10billion, and potentially more, according to a report published today.
Much of Scotland’s marine environment is now recognised to be in a state of decline or concern. The report Valuing the Benefits of Designating a Scottish Network of MPAs in Territorial and Offshore Waters (2012) finds that if such a network was set up to help protect Scotland’s seas, MPAs would help safeguard a range of hidden benefits that are currently under threat. Mitigation against extreme weather impacts, boosting fisheries and securing Scotland’s tourism appeal are amongst the many economic and social values described in the report. (more…)
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Sea trout, like many species in Scotland’s waters, are in decline. And not just a gradual decline; in some regions they are on a disturbing trajectory towards local extinction, having fallen by over 75% in 20 years [1]. Government advice infers from the latest sea trout rod catch statistics that spawning levels of this fish are at historically low levels.[2] This is bad news for obvious ecological reasons. It is also bad news for very interconnected economic ones.
