Guest blogger Sarah Dolman, Policy Manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and Save Scottish Seas campaign member takes a look at Scotland’s nature conservation MPAs three years since their designation, and looks ahead to the next steps required.
One year down the line – Monitoring Scotland’s MPAs
Scotland’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network is designed to provide place based protection to maintain representative habitats and species in good health, and in some cases support recovery, for rare, endangered and vulnerable habitats and species. All MPAs require unique management measures that provide protection to their identified features (habitat and/or species) from damaging activity, … [Continue Reading]
Protecting flame shell reefs in Loch Carron and beyond
Flame Shell in Strome Narrows, Loch Carron
You might have heard about recent events at Loch Carron. Back in April there were reports that scallop dredging, a form of fishing that pulls heavy toothed metal rakes and chain bags along the seabed, had damaged a flame-shell reef in outer Loch Carron. … [Continue Reading]
Protecting our offshore and deep sea habitats – How should Scotland manage its offshore MPAs?
Scotland’s offshore waters are far out, but we don’t want them to be out of mind. They are home to ancient, vulnerable deepwater coral reefs and sponges, ghostly fields of tall sea pen, unusual methane-seeps, aggregations of ocean quahog – among the oldest living things on the planet. They provide habitat for keystone species such as sandeels – small shoaling fish that are an essential food source for diving birds, such as puffins, seals, porpoises, and bigger fish, including many commercial species. … [Continue Reading]
Moves To Low Impact Fishing Could Benefit Coastal Economy
Placing proportionate limits on bottom-towed fishing could help boost long-term jobs in fragile rural communities, as well as protect the environment, contend a coalition of Scottish charities. The Scottish Government is due to announce measures for managing fishing in several Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) later this month. Scottish Environment LINK’s Marine Taskforce has written to the Scottish Parliament with the findings of an economic review which highlights the benefits that protection of seabed habitats could provide.
Drawing on the report, the environmental groups say that if the Scottish Government … [Continue Reading]
Decision-making about Scotland’s deep sea is a democratic blind-spot
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 … [Continue Reading]
Don’t take the P out of MPAs
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: … [Continue Reading]
Scotland’s seas and the first ’emergency MCO’: what have we learnt?
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, … [Continue Reading]
Scottish MPAs: “site” or “feature” protection?
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 … [Continue Reading]
#SupportMPAs to improve health of Scotland’s seas
This summer, the Scottish Government will set up as many as 33 new nature conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scotland’s seas. This is a watershed moment for our seas, which have been damaged by decades of unsustainable use. Over 10,000 people voiced their support for MPAs during the Scottish consultation in 2013. The politicians are now deciding what MPAs to designate – so this is a crucial time to remember why we need MPAs.
For the months of June and July we will be highlighting each of the proposed MPAs with a few vital facts about each MPA – an online summer study in marine conservation! If you support MPAs, share this around via Facebook and Twitter. … [Continue Reading]
