Proper protection for Scotland’s marine wildlife

To rescue and restore Scotland’s marine wildlife, LINK is campaigning for:

Better protection for marine species and habitats, including identification, protection and management of nationally important marine areas.

Without proper protection, the loss of wildlife will continue, stripping our seas of some of our most important species and habitats, unravelling the marine ecosystem.

Many marine species are in decline and  marine habitats have been degraded or destroyed, due to various human activities.

Human induced changes to the marine ecosystem result not only in the permanent loss of wildlife, but also in damage to the economy, as fishing, wildlife tourism and other industries suffer the consequences.

To ensure proper protection of Scotland’s seas, statutory measures should be in place both to protect species and sites. In addition, wider policies which could affect the environment should be underpinned by the need to protect wildlife.

Maintaining the health of the entire ecosystem through species and site protection and wider policy measures would ensure that our seas support economic activity for future generations.

Over 80% of the value of Scotland’s ecosystem services (the vital functions that support life on earth, including flows of material and energy and food production) derives from its estuaries and territorial waters, at over £14 bn. (Williams et al, 2003 The Value of Scotland’s ecosystem services and natural capital. European Environment Volume 13, Issue 2, pp.67-78)

Scotland’s marine wildlife tourism is a growing industry, directly providing over 2500 jobs and earning £57 m revenue a year. (Scottish Executive, 2005)

Safeguarding our natural heritage

Site protection – An ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas, inlcuding nationally important marine areas for species and habitats of particular value to Scotland.

Improving nature conservation, through a network of well-managed, statutory marine protected areas, would help prevent the continued loss of wildlife, and let important areas recover. Existing European marine Natura 2000 sites are not nearly enough to protect our marine wildlife, as they protect only a few species and habitats of European significance and do not cover important Scottish marine wildlife.

A new, more comprehensive network of Nationally Important Marine Areas is urgently needed to protect nationally important species like common skate, basking shark and black guillemot, as well as habitats like flameshell reefs and native oyster beds.

We also need Nationally Important Marine Areas to be able to meet important international commitments. The UK has an existing obligation to implement an ‘ecologically coherent network of well managed marine protected areas’ by 2010 under The Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention). But this will not provide protection for marine areas that are important from a Scottish perspective, such as many of our unique sea lochs.

Each area would be chosen according to ecological criteria and managed according to its individual needs, with input from local communities and stakeholders. The level of management will depend on the individual needs of the habitats or species in need of protection. In many cases designation will not affect the current activities already taking place whereas others may need more protection from damage.

LINK'S report on Nationally Important Marine Areas.

Tackling climate change

An eco-system already under stress is unlikely to survive the pressures of climate change. A healthy eco-system, however, has a much better chance of coping. Our seas are often the first to show the impacts of climate change, which has the potential to push the marine ecosystem beyond its capacity to recover.  At the moment, Scotland’s marine environment is unfit to deal with climate change. Protected sites are essential to make our marine ecosystem resilient.

Species protection – Ensuring the protection of marine wildlife from 12 to 200 miles, much of which is currently unprotected. This may include an amendment of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA). The list of species protected by the WCA should also be updated to include more species and a system for proper enforcement of its rules introduced.

At the moment the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) only makes it a criminal offence to deliberately or ‘recklessly’ harm a very limited range of marine species, such as dolphins, basking sharks and fan mussels, and only within 12 nautical miles of the shore. It is also illegal to create a ‘reckless’ or ‘intentional disturbance’, but the enforcement of this is failing.

This means that at the moment, a basking shark, which is protected from ‘reckless disturbance or damage’ within 12 nautical miles of the coast can still be killed without the risk of any punishment, in offshore UK waters.

To protect our marine environment, we need to make sure that powers are given to a Scottish Marine Management Organisation to ensure that laws are properly enforced at sea.

Public policy -  Wider policy measures and plans should be underpinned by the importance of and potential impacts on marine biodiversity. For example, marine spatial planning and licensing of activities such as renewable energy or fish farms should be linked to the duty to protect wildlife. (‘Biodiversity duty’).

A system of Marine Spatial Planning should provide the framework for protecting important sites and species from harmful activities. See Marine Spatial Planning.