Consultation on Fisheries Management Measures within Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - Online Engagement Event One minutes: August 2024

Minutes from the first online engagement event, held on 29 August 2024, in support of the consultation on fisheries management measures within Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).


Attendees and apologies

  • officials from Scottish Government Marine Directorate
  • officials from Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
  • 11 external attendees, representing members of the public and organisations (these events were wholly open to the public to allow them to ask questions on the on-going consultation and the names of individuals have not been provided)

Items and actions

Introduction and presentation

A short presentation was given to attendees for background and wider context for the public consultation on fisheries management within offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). 
 

Open floor questions and statements

Engagement

The online engagement events and the consultation have been advertised through various routes including social media posts, direct emails to key stakeholder groups, bulletin issue, alert on fisheries licensing page and posters in fishery offices. Marine Directorate are open to site specific meetings, which can be arranged on request.

Consultation options

Option 2 in the consultation is a product of the Strategic Environmental Assessment which is a legal requirement under The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004. Within this, an assessment of a ‘reasonable alternative’ is required which fulfils the objectives of the plan/policy. Assessing a full site restriction to relevant gears gives a full range of impacts (both socio-economic and environmental) to help inform Scottish Ministers decisions on measures to take forward. This approach has been taken in previous consultations on fisheries measures in MPAs in 2014.

Measures development

Measures are developed using risk-based assessments which look at specific gears against the specific features at each site, and then considered with regards to the risk to conservation objectives. This has allowed site specific and gear specific measures to be developed.

Impact assessments have considered cumulative impacts, which may occur over space and time, in relation to plan or projects. This includes offshore wind region lease sites and Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) sites. 

Sectoral marine plan assessments will also address potential impacts to the fishing industry and other licensable marine activities. 

EU cooperation

Ministers have written to the EU commission to notify them of this consultation. EU member states have been involved since project inception as they were party to development of measures prior to EU exit. Notification of the consultation launch has been updated within the EU Specialised Committee Planner.
 

Actions

No actions.

Back to top