Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - fisheries management measures: Fairer Scotland Duty summary

Summary of aims and expected outcomes of strategy, proposal, programme or policy

The aim of this policy is to manage the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Scottish offshore region in a way that conservation objectives can be achieved, and support sustainable use of our marine environment.

The Scottish Government's vision for the marine environment is of clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas; managed to meet the long-term needs of nature and people. MPAs have an important role to play in supporting this vision. MPAs are sites containing habitats and species that have been identified as being of conservation importance to Scotland, most are a subset of species and habitats identified on national, UK or international lists. They enable the focused protection of habitats and species which are essential to the marine ecosystem.

Implementing fisheries management measures in MPAs within the Scottish offshore region is an essential step to managing the MPA network. Scottish Ministers have committed to implementing fisheries management measures for existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where these are not already in place. In the offshore waters of Scotland (12-200 nautical miles) there are 20 sites which require the implementation of fisheries management measures to support the achievement of site conservation objectives.

Fisheries management measures will mean that only certain types of fishing are permitted within the area, and the measures proposed will depend on the sensitivities and distribution of protected species and habitats, and associated conservation objectives of each site. The purpose of management measures is to support the conservation objectives of the protected habitats and species to be achieved.

The network is managed under the principles of sustainable use.. By protecting our natural capital, we protect and support the services provided by healthy, productive and biodiverse marine ecosystems, building resilience into marine industries and strengthening food security.

Collectively the management of MPAs will help safeguard marine biodiversity and build resilience to the impacts of climate change, supporting our seas to provide economic, social and wider benefits for people, the economy and society.