Marine Protected Areas in Scotland

In Scotland, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated areas of the sea aimed at protecting habitats, wildlife, geology, undersea landforms, historic shipwrecks, and demonstrating sustainable management of marine resources. As of December 2020, approximately 37% of Scotland's seas are covered by the Scottish MPA network, which comprises a total of 244 sites.^[1]

As of December 2020, Scotland's MPA network comprises 244 sites protected under various conservation designations.^[3] Many of these designations are the same as those used on land, such as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).^[4][5] This figure includes four sites designated in December 2020:^[6][7] North-east Lewis; Shiant East Bank; Sea of the Hebrides; and the Southern Trench.

The legal framework for designating MPAs depends on the designation. For example, SSSIs are designated under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.^[8] Where sites are not designated under other conservation legislation, MPAs are designated under one of two acts of parliament, depending on their location:

• The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 is an act of the Scottish Parliament that gives the Scottish Government the power to designate MPAs in Scottish Territorial Waters (waters up to 12 nautical miles off the coastline).
• The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 is an act of the UK Parliament that gives the Scottish Government the power to designate MPAs in Scottish Offshore Waters (waters lying further from the coast than 12 nautical miles, and defined as Scottish by the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999).^[9][10]

Sites are designated as MPAs under these acts for one of three purposes:^[11]

• Nature Conservation MPAs are designated to protect biodiversity.
• Historical MPAs are used to protect sites such as marine wrecks and artefacts.
• Demonstration and Research MPAs are designated to test novel approaches to marine management.

In addition to the statutory MPAs, five sites are recognized as part of the Scottish MPA network, categorized as "other area-based measures." Although these areas were not specifically created for nature conservation purposes, they are considered to contribute to the protection of marine biodiversity. The makeup of the network as of December 2020 is detailed in the table below:^[3]

Purpose Designation Number Nature Conservation Special Area of Conservation (SAC) 58 Nature Conservation Special Protection Area (SPA) 56 Nature Conservation Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) 65 Nature Conservation Ramsar 16 Nature Conservation Nature Conservation MPA 35 Total MPAs for nature conservation purposes 230 Demonstration and Research Demonstration and Research MPA 1 Historic Historic MPA 8 Other Area Based Measures 5 Total sites in Scottish MPA network 244

The lead body for the management of MPAs in Scotland is Marine Scotland. For nature conservation sites within territorial waters, NatureScot is responsible for developing the network, providing scientific advice to the Scottish Government on site selection, and advising Marine Scotland on management once sites are designated. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) fulfills this role for sites in offshore waters and also has a coordinating role for nature conservation across all the UK's offshore waters.^[8] Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for managing historic MPAs.^[12]

Activities undertaken in an MPA can be managed through voluntary measures or by implementing Marine Conservation Orders or Inshore Fishing Orders. Management measures, such as restrictions on the type of fishing gear that can be used, may be in place for all or part of an MPA and may only apply at certain times of the year.^[11] Environmental groups have criticized the government for failing to enforce fishing rules around MPAs.^[13]

These tables list those MPAs not covered by other designations (i.e. excluding SACs, SPAs, and SSSIs etc.) as of December 2020.^[14][15]

Name Size (ha) Date Type Advisory body HMS Campania 7.1[16] 1 November 2013[17] Historic HES HMS Dartmouth 0.8[18] 1 November 2013[19] Historic HES Drumbeg 7.1[20] 18 March 2013[21] Historic HES Duart Point 1.8[22] 1 November 2013[23] Historic HES Iona I 2.5[24] 26 October 2016[25] Historic HES Kinlochbervie 28.3[26] 1 November 2013[27] Historic HES Mingary 19.6[28] 1 November 2013[29] Historic HES Out Skerries 22.8[30] 1 November 2013[31] Historic HES

Name Size (km2) Date Type Advisory body Central Fladen 925 7 August 2014[32] Nature Conservation JNCC Clyde Sea Sill 712 7 August 2014[33] Nature Conservation NatureScot East Caithness Cliffs 114 7 August 2014[34] Nature Conservation NatureScot East of Gannet and Montrose Fields 1839 7 August 2014[35] Nature Conservation JNCC Faroe–Shetland Sponge Belt 5278 7 August 2014[36] Nature Conservation JNCC Fetlar to Haroldswick 216 18 November 2016[37] Nature Conservation NatureScot Firth of Forth Banks Complex 2130 7 August 2014[38] Nature Conservation JNCC Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope 2215 7 August 2014[39] Nature Conservation JNCC Hatton-Rockall Basin 1256 7 August 2014[40] Nature Conservation JNCC Loch Carron 23 19 May 2019[41] Nature Conservation NatureScot Loch Creran 12 7 August 2014[42] Nature Conservation NatureScot Loch Sunart 49 7 August 2014[43] Nature Conservation NatureScot Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura 741 7 August 2014[44] Nature Conservation NatureScot Loch Sween 41 7 August 2014[45] Nature Conservation NatureScot Lochs Duich, Long and Alsh 37 7 August 2014[46] Nature Conservation NatureScot Monach Isles 62 7 August 2014[47] Nature Conservation NatureScot Mousa to Boddam 13 7 August 2014[48] Nature Conservation NatureScot North-east Faroe–Shetland Channel 23682 7 August 2014[49] Nature Conservation JNCC North-east Lewis 90700 3 December 2020[50] Nature Conservation NatureScot North-west Orkney 4365 7 August 2014[51] Nature Conservation JNCC Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain 164 7 August 2014[52] Nature Conservation JNCC Noss Head 8 7 August 2014[53] Nature Conservation NatureScot Red Rocks and Longay 12 16 December 2021[54] Nature Conservation NatureScot Papa Westray 33 7 August 2014[55] Nature Conservation NatureScot Sea of the Hebrides 10039 3 December 2020[56] Nature Conservation NatureScot Shiant East Bank 25200 3 December 2020[57] Nature Conservation NatureScot Small Isles 803 18 November 2016[58] Nature Conservation NatureScot Southern Trench 239800 3 December 2020[59] Nature Conservation NatureScot South Arran 280 7 August 2014[60] Nature Conservation NatureScot The Barra Fan and Hebrides Terrace Seamount 4373 7 August 2014[61] Nature Conservation JNCC Turbot Bank 251 7 August 2014[62] Nature Conservation JNCC Upper Loch Fyne and Loch Goil 88 7 August 2014[63] Nature Conservation NatureScot West of Scotland 107773 9 October 2020[64] Nature Conservation JNCC West Shetland Shelf 4083 7 August 2014[65] Nature Conservation JNCC Wester Ross 599 7 August 2014[66] Nature Conservation NatureScot Wyre and Rousay Sounds 16 7 August 2014[67] Nature Conservation NatureScot

There is one Demonstration and Research Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the waters surrounding Fair Isle. This MPA was designated on 9 November 2016.^[68] The aims of this MPA designation are defined as follows:

To demonstrate and research the use of an ecosystem approach, which includes the following -

a) the environmental monitoring of seabirds and of other mobile marine species;
b) the environmental monitoring of the factors which influence the populations of seabirds and of other mobile species;
c) the development and implementation of a local sustainable shellfish fishery;
d) the development of a research programme into local fisheries which includes research on species composition, size, distribution and temporal and spatial changes in fish stocks;

e) based upon the research undertaken under sub-paragraph (d), the development of a sustainable-use management programme for local fisheries.

— Scottish Government^[69]

Name Size (km2) East Coast of Scotland (sand eels) 21,320[70] West of Scotland (blue ling) 6,009[70] Rosemary Bank (blue ling) 8,955[70] West Rockall Mound 5,124[70] North West Rockall 346[70]

As of 2020, two additional Historic Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been proposed, following a consultation exercise conducted by Historic Environment Scotland that closed on 27 November.^[71] The two proposed sites are:^[72]

• The wreck of the Swedish East India Company ship Queen of Sweden in Bressay Sound, Shetland.
• A 10.7 km² area in Scapa Flow, Orkney, including the site of the scuttled German High Seas Fleet.

• "Scottish MPA network - Parliamentary Report" (PDF). Scottish Government. December 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2019.

• Scotland's Marine Protected Area network - NatureScot
• Marine Heritage - Historic Environment Scotland