Consultation 2023 on Scotland’s Inshore Waters
By Sally Campbell. Featured image shows view from Coll. Credit: John Campbell
The Fisheries Act 2020 describes an ecosystem as one that ensures that the collective pressure is kept within levels compatible with Good Environmental Status. The inshore sea of the Clyde, which is one of the wider firths, was closed until the 1960s, and then the 3-mile limit was removed in the mid-1980s. Since that time, there have been catastrophic declines in almost all demersal fin-fish inshore landings; economically active sea angling businesses and other local economies such as B&Bs, ship chandlery and tourism related were decimated. Wild salmon and trout line fisheries also collapsed. All these were once the wheels of the local economies.
Introducing comprehensive and extensive spatial management sounds like a bold ambition, but it is worth emphasising that Scotland committed to implementing such measures under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, and the government believed that Scotland would achieve good environmental status by 2020, but we are nowhere near it in 2023. Almost 50 per cent of our fish are fished to a degree in excess of maximum sustainable yield despite clear scientific advice. This is a breach of the United Kingdom Fisheries Act 2020 and it goes against achieving good environmental status. Most of our sea bed—58 per cent of it—is still highly disturbed.
Because Scotland has committed to achieving good environmental status and to fishing below the maximum sustainable yield, to achieve that, the only answer is extensive spatial management. The inference that spatial management will lead to improved fish populations, environmental health and jobs is already implicit in the Scottish Government’s commitments, the UN sustainable development goals and the UK Fisheries Act 2020. Those commitments are based on the fact that the Government has already recognised these are basic requirements for ecosystem health, and a healthy ecosystem will generate more jobs and more robust coastal communities. An ecosystem approach for all fisheries management plans is imperative and indeed needs to include salmon aquaculture.
The ECCLR (Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform) Committee report from the Scottish Parliament on the environmental effect of fish farming confirmed that: ‘Scotland’s public bodies have a statutory duty to protect biodiversity and this must be to the fore when considering the expansion of the sector,’ under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. Of the commitments in 2010 to achieve good environmental status it looked by 2020 as though we had categorically failed on almost every metric. The Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation believes that as a country we have failed on 7 of the 11 metrics by which we measure good environmental status. Further, the Bute House agreement of November 2021 committed the Scottish Government to introducing highly protected marine areas and to capping damaging fishing activity in inshore waters.
But now the Scottish Government has a consultation out on Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), and please, do look at the documents and fill in some of the questions in the consultation. The government needs to hear the views of communities as well as mobile fisheries lobby and salmon aquaculture lobby groups. We all have a stake in our marine inshore environment. The last date for submission of responses is 20 March 2023. The Scottish Government’s vision for the marine environment is for clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas, managed to meet the long term needs of nature and people. Through the Bute House Agreement, Scottish Ministers have committed to designate at least 10% of Scotland’s seas as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), by 2026. These sites will provide high levels of protection by placing strict limits on some human activities, such as fishing and aquaculture, whilst allowing non-damaging recreational activities to take place at carefully managed levels. This consultation is seeking views and comments on a number of key documents that propose how HPMAs will contribute to this vision. As an introduction it says:
“Current Situation:
Scotland’s seas account for 61% of UK waters and are not only home to an array of marine species, but also provide for our food and energy needs as well as recreational activities and eco-tourism.
Scotland has a number of existing domestic and international commitments that the introduction of HPMAs will contribute to. These include the UKMarine Strategy, the strategic objectives set out by the OSPAR Commission for the protection of the marine environment and the aims for nature recovery under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Scotland has an existing Marine Protected Areas (MPA) network which covers 37% of our seas and includes sites of various designations: Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and Marine Protected Areas (including MPAs for Nature Conservation as well as Historic MPAs and Demonstration and Research MPAs).
This established network of protected areas has been developed around the concept of sustainable use, meaning activities can continue, providing they do not adversely affect specific, protected features.
Alongside the introduction of HPMAs, the Scottish Government is also working on delivering fisheries management measures for existing MPAs, where these are not already in place, as well as key coastal biodiversity locations outside of these sites, by March 2024 at the latest.”
Read the consultation paper
Be sure your voice is heard!
Sally Campbell
February 2023
