Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - fisheries management measures: final business regulatory impact assessment

Section 1: Background, aims and options

Background to policy issue

The Scottish Government Blue Economy Vision, and long-term commitment is that Scotland’s shared stewardship of our marine environment supports ecosystem health, improved livelihoods, economic prosperity, social inclusion and wellbeing. This includes that Scotland’s marine and coastal environments are restored, adapted and resilient to climate change whilst being sustainably managed to achieve good environmental status.

In line with this vision, The Scottish Government has national and international commitments to protect marine biodiversity, and to take necessary measures to protect and conserve the marine ecosystem. Scotland’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network (made up of multiple protected area designations) helps protect our most important natural and cultural heritage features. Implementing fisheries management measures in MPAs within the Scottish offshore region will help to achieve this.

There are national and international commitments for Scotland and the UK to support an MPA network which contributes to conservation or improvement of the marine environment such as;

• The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010
• The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009
• The Convention on Biological Diversity
• The World Summit on Sustainable Development
• The OSPAR Convention
• UK Marine Strategy
• Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, and the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017

The network is managed under the principles of sustainable use, and by doing so we protect the natural goods and services they provide for current and future generations to enjoy. 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. Scottish Ministers have committed to delivering fisheries management measures for existing MPAs where these are not already in place.

Throughout this document, unless specified, the term MPA is used to collectively refer to two types of designations for sites in place for nature conservation. In this case, those sites are Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (NCMPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC).

Fisheries management measures will mean that only certain types of fishing are permitted within the protected area, and the measures proposed will depend on the protected feature and conservation objective of the MPA. The management measures considered are outlined in further detail in Table 1.

Purpose/ aim of action and desired effect

The Scottish Government is implementing fisheries management measures at 10 SACs and 10 NCMPAs within the Scottish offshore region. The offshore region (12-200 nautical miles) extends from the limit of the territorial sea to the UK Continental Shelf Claim Limit. The aim of this policy is to manage the MPAs in the Scottish offshore region in a way that conservation objectives can be achieved, and support sustainable use of our marine environment. The sites in question have been designated following MPA selection guidelines and assigned site specific conservation objectives.

There is a legislative requirement for the Scottish Ministers to take conservation measures in SACs in a way that corresponds with the ecological requirements of the habitats and species for which the sites have been designated. In doing so, under The Conservation of Offshore Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 they are required to have regard to the need to maintain or restore the protected features of the site to favourable conservation status; the economic, social and cultural requirements and regional and local characteristics; and any management scheme which has been established for the site.

For NCMPAs, under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and Marine Scotland Act 2010, Scottish Ministers have a duty to exercise functions which could significantly affect an NCMPA in a manner that best furthers the conservation objectives of the site (or where that is not possible, least hinders the achievement of the objectives).

The protected features, the Conservation Objectives and the three options for fisheries management measures for each of the 20 sites are listed under the heading ‘Offshore MPAs in Scottish Waters and the listed protected feature, conservation objective and options for fisheries management measures’.

Evidence in this BRIA is drawn from the work of consultants ABPmer and Eftec. It brings together the scientific, evidence based arguments for management and the projected potential social and economic consequences of such action.

The appraisal period for assessing the socioeconomic impacts of both options covers the 20 year period from 2023 to 2042, although benefits are expected to be delivered for longer if effective management measures remain in place. As with any socio-economic assessment related to environmental designations, the findings should be considered as estimates, and in industries where uncertainty exists such as for fisheries due to the natural variability in external factors on which they depend, impacts are deliberately presented as worst-case scenarios to build in necessary caution into each scenario.

Proposed measures were developed for Turbot Bank MPA which would prohibit targeted Sandeel fishing across the full site. In 2023, the Scottish Government consulted on a closure to all fishing for Sandeel in all Scottish waters. As a result of this consultation the Scottish Government has prohibited fishing for Sandeel in all Scottish waters. The Sandeel (Prohibition Of Fishing) (Scotland) Order 2024 came into force on 26 March 2024 ahead of the 2024 fishery season and applies to all vessels (UK and EU) fishing within Scottish waters.

Subsequently, we are no longer proposing site specific measures for Turbot Bank MPA and measures not included within this consultation. The site will still feature within the package of consultation documents as removing the site is not considered practical at this stage. This is because in addition to site specific assessments, overall assessments have been undertaken for the impacts of implementing measures as a full package.

Offshore MPAs in Scottish Waters and the listed protected feature, conservation objective and options for fisheries management measures

Anton Dohrn Seamount SAC

Protected Feature - Stony, bedrock and biogenic reefs

Conservation Objective - Restore

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Braemar Pockmarks SAC

Protected Feature - Submarine structures made by leaking gases

Conservation Objective - Restore

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Central Fladen MPA

Protected Feature - Burrowed Mud

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Darwin Mounds SAC

Protected Feature - Stony, bedrock and biogenic reefs

Conservation Objective - Restore

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

East of Gannet and Montrose Field MPA

Protected Feature - Offshore deep-sea muds and Ocean Quahog aggregations (including sands and gravels and their supporting habitat)

Conservation Objective – Conserve

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of mechanised dredge and beam trawling.

Zonal exclusion of demersal trawls

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

East Rockall Bank SAC

Protected Feature - Stony, bedrock and biogenic reefs

Conservation Objective - Restore

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt MPA

Protected Feature - Deep sea sponge aggregations; Offshore subtidal sands and gravels; Ocean Quahog aggregations

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Firth of Forth Banks Complex MPA

Protected Feature - Ocean Quahog aggregations and Offshore subtidal sands and gravels

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gear (except seines)

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear (except seines)

Option 3 - No additional measures

Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope MPA

Protected Feature - Burrowed mud (seapens and burrowing megafauna); Offshore subtidal sands and gravels; Offshore deep-sea muds

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Northeast Faroe-Shetland Channel MPA

Protected Feature - Deep sea sponge aggregations; Offshore sands and gravels; Deep sea muds

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain MPA

Protected Feature - Ocean Quahog aggregations (including sands and gravels as their supporting habitat)

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of mechanised dredges, beam trawls and demersal trawls (including pair trawls/seines); Zonal exclusion of demersal seines.

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Northwest Rockall Bank SAC

Protected Feature - Stony and Biogenic reef

Conservation Objective - Restore

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear (within Scottish waters)

Option 3 - No additional measures

Pobie Bank Reef SAC

Protected Feature - Bedrock and Stony reef

Conservation Objective - Maintain or restore

Option 1 - Zonal management of demersal mobile gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Scanner Pockmark SAC

Protected Feature - Submarine structures made by leaking gases

Conservation Objective - Restore

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Solan Bank Reef SAC

Protected Feature - Bedrock and Stony reef

Conservation Objective - Maintain or Restore

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear, except September and October where demersal trawls and seines are permitted within designated zone.

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Stanton Banks SAC

Protected Feature - Bedrock and Stony reef

Conservation Objective - Restore

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

The Barra Fan and Hebrides Terrace Seamount MPA

Protected Feature - Seamount communities; Offshore sand and gravels; Deep sea muds

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Turbot Bank MPA *

Protected Feature - Sandeels

Conservation Objective - Conserve

There is now full site exclusion of targeted sandeel fishing

* As of March 2024 measures are no longer proposed for Turbot Bank, however the site is still captured within the impact assessments.

West of Scotland MPA

Protected Feature - Burrowed Mud; Deep sea sponge aggregations; Coral gardens; Cold-water coral reefs; Offshore deep sea muds; Offshore sands and gravels and sea mount communities; Blue ling; Gulper shark; Leafscale gulper shark; Orange roughy; Portuguese dogfish; Roundnose grenadier

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

West Shetland Shelf MPA

Protected Feature - Offshore subtidal sands and gravels

Conservation Objective - Conserve

Option 1 - Full site exclusion of dredges and beam trawls; Zonal exclusion of demersal trawls and seines

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Wyville Thomson Ridge SAC

Protected Feature - Stony and bedrock reef

Conservation Objective – Restore

Option 1 - Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 2 - Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3 - No additional measures

Rational for Government Intervention

Scotland’s marine environment provides a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits to people. Some of these benefits are direct and tangible, for example fish for human consumption or tourism and recreational opportunities. There are also other less tangible benefits such as the important role different species and habitats play in nutrient cycling and climate regulation.

Protecting our natural capital supports the services provided by healthy, productive and biodiverse marine ecosystems, including building resilience into marine industries and strengthening food security. The Dasgupta review on the Economics of Biodiversity highlights that our economies, livelihoods and well-being are all dependent on nature, including the marine environment^[1].

By protecting defined areas of Scotland’s marine environment, MPAs provide a significant number of supporting services - the foundation for all other ecosystem services. Crucially, MPAs preserve habitats that can serve as nursery grounds for larvae and juveniles, supporting provisioning services such as future fisheries and food supply^[2]. Therefore, potential management measures for the proposed MPAs could increase the level of several provisioning services. Gubbay (2006) noted positive species community effects such as greater complexity of food webs and increase primary and secondary productivity in MPAs as a consequence of protection.

The capacity of the marine environment to continue providing these benefits to people in Scotland is at risk due to market failures:

Public goods – Many of the benefits associated with the marine environment have ‘public good’ characteristics, which means they are non-excludable (no one can be excluded from enjoying the benefits) and non-rivalrous (enjoyment of the benefits provided to one person does not diminish the benefits available to others. These characteristics mean that private individuals do not have the incentive to ensure the continued flow of these benefits, which can lead to their under-provision in the absence of any government intervention.

Externalities - Externalities occur when the actions of an individual leads to benefits or costs to others that are not accounted for in market prices. The environmental damage from marine users’ activities is often unaccounted for in the price of the goods they sell (e.g., wild fish). This means that these marine users do not have the incentive to internalise the full social costs of their actions.

The protection of species and habitats in the marine environment is currently underprovided by markets as a result of these market failures. This creates rationale for government intervention to increase the protection afforded to these species and habitats.

The Scottish Government has a long-term commitment to ensure the sustainable management of the marine environment. Looking after the seas requires a range of different management approaches to ensure that society can continue to derive the many natural benefits that our seas provide. MPAs have an important role to play in supporting this commitment. They enable the focused protection of habitats and species which are essential to the marine ecosystem. Beyond the benefits provided for nature conservation, these areas facilitate an increase in ecosystem resilience and recovery^[3].

The Scottish Government has committed to implementing fisheries management measures for existing MPAs where these are not already in place. This policy proposal fulfils duties in domestic legislation (including legislation that implements the requirements of EU Directives), as well as contributing to the management of UK and international networks of marine protected areas.

The relevant domestic legislation is the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 which places a duty on the relevant public authority to exercise its functions in a manner that best furthers the conservation objectives of the site (or where that is not possible, least hinders the achievement of the objectives). The Conservation of Offshore Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 outlines a requirement for SACs to be managed in a way that maintains or restores the protected feature to favourable conservation status.

Under the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 Scottish Ministers have a duty to designate MPAs which contribute to a UK network of protected marine sites. SACs designated under The Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 also contribute to the Scottish MPA network.

By implementing fisheries management measures in our MPAs we also contribute to and support a number of additional national and international commitments and obligations such as:

• work towards the outcomes of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy outcomes: Protected areas will be larger, better connected and in good condition and that natural capital will be embedded in policy making;
• contribute to the achievement of Good Environmental Status under the UK Marine Strategy;
• contribute to the National Performance Framework by supporting marine elements of the biodiversity, and protected site indicators for the Environmental National Outcomes. These measures will also support the economic objective for natural capital;
• Scotland’s National Marine Plan;
• Joint Fisheries Statement and Fisheries Act;
• help deliver the UK Contribution to Ecologically Coherent MPA Network in the North East Atlantic;
• work towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and Convention on Biological Diversity targets of 2030 for 30% of marine and coastal areas are “effectively conserved and managed, while ensuring that any sustainable use, where appropriate in such areas, is fully consistent with conservation outcomes”;
• and support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources).

After the consultation process concludes, Scottish Ministers will proceed with implementing fisheries management measures, using the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 as the legal framework to enforce them.

Options

The Scottish Government have assessed the three following options, each presenting differing levels of management.

Scenario

Option 1

• Overview: Developed with stakeholders. Zonal or full site restrictions to specified gear
• Description: Restrictions for specified gear identified as requiring management. For 15 sites these are zoned restrictions, 5 sites the restrictions are full site

Option 2

• Overview: Full site restriction for specified gear
• Description: Prohibit use of specified gear identified as requiring management from entire site

Option 3

• Overview: Do nothing
• Description: No additional management

There are five sites where a full site restriction to specified gears has been identified as the only suitable management option for supporting the achievement of the site conservation objectives. These measures are therefore the same under both Option 1 and Option 2 of this assessment.

For the assessment of the overall impact, the site specific impact was calculated, and then added to the calculated collective impact of option 1 and to the calculated collective impact of option 2 measures to provide two figures for overall impact.

Option 1: Implement feature based fisheries management measures under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009

Option 1 represents fisheries management measures that have been informed with the best available evidence and advice from the appropriate Statutory Nature Conservation Body and developed with the fishing industry and Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (eNGOs).

These measures have been developed to provide focused protection to features that enable conservation objectives to be met, whilst allowing sustainable fishing activity and practices to continue alongside. Gears requiring management were identified from advice and evidence provided by JNCC and supported by findings within the Fisheries Assessments undertaken for each site.

Under this option, 15 of the 21 sites are zonal measures for specified gears. Only one management proposal is presented for six sites which is a full site exclusion for fishing with specified gear. This is the case where a full site level of protection from the specified gear has been identified as the only suitable option to support the achievement the conservation objectives of the site.

Measures for Option 1 are outlined in Table 2. Further detail for each site, including site maps is available in the Site Proposal Document.

Table 2. Proposed fisheries management measures under Option 1.

Site	Coverage	% Site closure	Measures
Anton Dohrn Seamount	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
Braemar Pockmarks	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
Central Fladen	Zonal	35	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gears
Darwin Mounds	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
East of Gannet and Montrose Fields	Zonal	65	Full site exclusion of mechanised dredge and beam trawling. Zonal exclusion of demersal trawls
East Rockall Bank	Zonal	94	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt	Zonal	74	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
Firth of Forth Banks Complex	Zonal	58	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gears (except seines)
Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope	Zonal	60	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gears
North-East Faroe-Shetland Channel	Zonal	98	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
North West Rockall Bank	Zonal	95	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain	Zonal	41	Full site exclusion of mechanised dredge, beam trawl and demersal trawl. Zonal exclusion of seines
Pobie Bank Reef	Zonal	93	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gears
Scanner Pockmark	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
Solan Bank Reef	Zonal	100 (ten months per year) 72 (two months per year)	Full site exclusion of mechanised dredge and beam trawling Full site exclusion of demersal trawls and seines excluding September and October, when permitted in defined zones
Stanton Banks	Zonal	96	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile gears
The Barra Fan and Hebrides Terrace Seamount	Zonal	90	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
Turbot Bank	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of targeted sandeel fishery
West of Scotland	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears
West Shetland Shelf	Zonal	50	Zonal exclusion of demersal trawls and seines. Full site exclusion of mechanised dredges and beam trawling
Wyville-Thomson Ridge	Zonal	78	Zonal exclusion of demersal mobile and static gears

Option 2: Prohibit damaging gears from the full site under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009

Option 2 restricts specified fishing activity from the full site. This option does not account for the geographic distribution of features and presents a greater level of environmental protection through greater levels of fisheries restrictions. For most sites, this second option is assessed as having higher socio-economic impacts in comparison to Option 1.

Gears requiring management were identified from advice and evidence provided by JNCC and supported by findings within the Fisheries Assessments undertaken for each site. The JNCC advice and evidence is available for each site and can be accessed through the JNCC website: Resource Hub.

These measures are outlined in Table 3. Site maps can be found within the Site Proposal document in the supporting documents of the consultation.

Table 3. Proposed fisheries management measures under Option 2.

Site	Coverage	% Site closure	Measures
Anton Dohrn Seamount	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
Braemar Pockmarks	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
Central Fladen	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
Darwin Mounds	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
East of Gannet and Montrose Fields	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
East Rockall Bank	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
Firth of Forth Banks Complex	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear (excluding seines)
Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
North-East Faroe-Shetland Channel	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
North West Rockall Bank	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
Pobie Bank Reef	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
Scanner Pockmark	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
Solan Bank Reef	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
Stanton Banks	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
The Barra Fan and Hebrides Terrace Seamount	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
Turbot Bank	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of targeted sandeel fishery
West of Scotland	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear
West Shetland Shelf	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile gear
Wyville-Thompson Ridge	Full site	100	Full site exclusion of demersal mobile and static gear

Option 3: Do nothing - No additional Management

Option 3 is the ‘Do nothing’ option; this is the baseline scenario. Under this option, there is no change to the management measures already in place, such as the prohibition of deep sea trawling (deeper than 800m) (Regulation (EU) 2019/1241^[4]) and the use of set nets (deeper than 600m) (Regulation (EU) 2016/2336^[5]). These regulations apply to any area in Scottish waters which exceeds the depths referred to. The Sandeel (Prohibition Of Fishing) (Scotland) Order 2024 came into force on 26 March 2024 ahead of the 2024 fishery season and prohibits all targeted sandeel fishing within Scottish waters. The 20 sites being consulted on and their features have been identified as requiring fisheries management following advice from the relevant statutory nature conservation bodies (JNCC and NatureScot).

As outlined above in the Rationale for Government Intervention section, there are legislative drivers for implementing fisheries management measures in Scottish MPAs.

On the basis of these requirements, no additional management is not considered a viable option.

Sectors/ Groups affected

The following activities have been identified as present (or possibly present in the future) within the sites where proposed fisheries management measures are to be implemented in offshore MPAs;

• Commercial fisheries and fisheries processors
• Marine tourism
• Recreational activities
• Public sector
• Research/education bodies

The commercial fisheries sector is most likely to be directly impacted by MPA management measures, as a number of restrictions are placed on the type of vessel and gear that can be deployed within the MPA boundary. The measures under Option 1 have been developed with stakeholders from the commercial fisheries sector.