Fisheries Management Measures within Scottish Inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas - High level Site Summary Details and Potential Impacts of Proposed Fisheries Management Measures

11. Forth and Tay Scottish Marine Region MPAs

Due to the complexity and large number of areas and sites, ecosystem services data has been produced at a regional level, allowing for a more consistent assessment across wider geographical scales while still capturing key variations in ecological, social, and economic value.

11.1. Site: Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary SAC

Protected features:

• Estuaries
• Harbour seal
• Intertidal mudflats and sandflats
• Subtidal sandbanks

Feature conditions:

• Estuaries - Favourable
• Harbour seal – Unfavourable (Harbour seal are in unfavourable condition at Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary SAC due to substantive recent reductions in numbers using the site. The Conservation Objectives seek to maintain the conditions in this SAC to support the recovery of the harbour seal. Additional details are provided in the CMA document produced for this SAC and can be found on Sitelink.
• Intertidal mudflats and sandflats - Favourable
• Subtidal sandbanks – Favourable

Conservation objectives:

• Estuaries - Maintain
• Harbour seal - Maintain
• Intertidal mudflats and sandflats - Maintain
• Subtidal sandbanks - Maintain

The proposed management measure for Firth of Tay and Eden estuary SAC is as follows:

Single Proposed Management Option:

• Full site closure to demersal trawls and seines, beam trawls, mechanical dredge, hydraulic dredge, set nets (including fyke nets) and pelagic seine and ring nets
• Longlines (until technical measures come into force) prohibited in overlapping areas with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA

A full site level of protection from the specified gear has been identified as the only suitable option in enabling the achievement of the desired level of protection for the feature in question.

Overlapping sites included in this consultation

This SAC overlaps with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA.

11.2. Site: Isle of May SAC

Protected features:

• Grey seal
• Reefs

Feature conditions:

• Grey seal - Favourable
• Reefs - Favourable

Conservation objectives:

• Grey seal - Maintain
• Reefs - Maintain

The proposed management measure for Isle of May SAC is as follows:

Single Proposed Management Option:

• Full site closure to demersal trawls and seines, beam trawl, set nets (including fyke nets), pelagic seines (including ring nets), mechanical dredge and hydraulic dredge.
• Longlines (until technical measures come into force) prohibited in overlapping areas with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA which covers the whole site.

A full site level of protection from the specified gear has been identified as the only suitable option in enabling the achievement of the desired level of protection for the feature in question.

Overlapping sites included in this consultation

This SAC overlaps with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex and Forth Islands SPAs.

11.3. Site: Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SAC

Protected features:

• Grey seal
• Intertidal mudflats and sandflats
• Large shallow inlets and bays
• Reefs
• Sea caves

Sea caves are not discussed further as they are not a protected feature for which fisheries management measures are required. Of the other features for which this site is designated, only reefs and grey seal are present in the area of the site under Scottish jurisdiction, and as such these are the only protected features considered.

Feature conditions:

• Grey seal - Favourable
• Reefs - Favourable

Conservation objectives:

• Grey seal - Maintain
• Reefs - Maintain

The proposed management measures for the Scottish portion of Berwickshire and North Northumberland coast SAC are as follows:

Option 1:

• Demersal trawls and seines, beam trawl, hydraulic dredge and mechanical dredge prohibited in part of the site.
• Full site closure to set nets (including fyke nets) and pelagic seine (including ring nets).
• Longlines (until technical measures come into force) prohibited in overlapping areas with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA

Option 2:*

• Full site closure to demersal trawls and seines, beam trawl, mechanical dredge, hydraulic dredge, set nets (includes fyke nets) and pelagic seine (including ring nets).

*The measures for Option 2 proposals only come from gear types prohibited in non-overlapping areas. Overlapping restrictions may still apply from overlapping sites or areas dependent on the decisions taken for that site or area.

Overlapping sites included in this consultation

This SAC overlaps with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex and St Abb’s Head to Fast Castle SPAs.

11.4. Site: Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA

Protected features:

• Arctic tern – breeding
• Black-headed gull - non-breeding
• Common gull - non-breeding
• Common scoter
• Common tern - breeding
• Eider
• Gannet - breeding
• Goldeneye
• Guillemot - breeding & non-breeding
• Herring gull - breeding & non-breeding
• Kittiwake - breeding & non-breeding
• Little gull - non-breeding
• Long-tailed duck
• Manx shearwater - breeding
• Puffin - breeding
• Razorbill - non-breeding
• Red-breasted merganser
• Red-throated diver
• Shag - breeding & non-breeding
• Slavonian grebe
• Velvet scoter

Feature conditions:

• Arctic tern - Favourable
• Black-headed gull - Favourable
• Common gull - Favourable
• Common scoter - Favourable
• Common tern – Unfavourable at one or more relevant breeding colony SPAs
• Eider - Favourable
• Gannet - Favourable
• Goldeneye - Favourable
• Guillemot (breeding) - Favourable
• Guillemot (non-breeding) - Favourable
• Herring gull (breeding) - Unfavourable at one or more relevant breeding colony SPAs
• Herring gull (non-breeding) - Favourable
• Kittiwake (breeding) - Unfavourable at one or more relevant breeding colony SPAs
• Kittiwake (non-breeding) - Favourable
• Little gull - Favourable
• Long-tailed duck - Favourable
• Manx shearwater - Favourable
• Puffin - Favourable
• Razorbill - Favourable
• Red-breasted merganser - Favourable
• Red-throated diver - Favourable
• Shag (breeding) – Unfavourable at one or more relevant breeding colony SPAs
• Shag (non-breeding) - Favourable
• Slavonian grebe - Favourable
• Velvet scoter – Favourable

Conservation objectives:

• Arctic tern - Maintain
• Black-headed gull - Maintain
• Common gull - Maintain
• Common scoter - Maintain
• Common tern – Restore
• Eider - Maintain
• Gannet - Maintain
• Goldeneye - Maintain
• Guillemot (breeding) - Maintain
• Guillemot (non-breeding) - Maintain
• Herring gull (breeding) - Restore
• Herring gull (non-breeding) - Maintain
• Kittiwake (breeding) - Restore
• Kittiwake (non-breeding) - Maintain
• Little gull - Maintain
• Long-tailed duck - Maintain
• Manx shearwater - Maintain
• Puffin - Maintain
• Razorbill - Maintain
• Red-breasted merganser - Maintain
• Red-throated diver - Maintain
• Shag (breeding) – Restore
• Shag (non-breeding) - Maintain
• Slavonian grebe - Maintain
• Velvet scoter - Maintain

The proposed management measure for Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews bay complex SPA is as follows:

Single Proposed Management Option:*

• Full site closure to longlines (until technical measures come into force) and hydraulic dredge
• Set nets (including fyke nets) prohibited in areas down to 177m based on presence and maximum dive depth for guillemot which covers whole site
• Pelagic seine (including ring-nets) prohibited in overlapping areas with the Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary, Isle of May and Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SACs

A full site level of protection from the specified gear has been identified as the only suitable option in enabling the achievement of the desired level of protection for the feature in question.

*This site will have other demersal mobile measures that may apply from the overlapping portions with other sites. The Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary, Isle of May and Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SACs would prohibit demersal trawls and seines, beam trawls and mechanical dredge in the overlapping areas shown on the map below.

Overlapping sites included in this consultation

This SPA overlaps with the Forth islands and St Abb’s Head to Fast Castle SPAs and Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary, Isle of May and Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SACs.

Estimated Socio-economic impacts of proposed measures for Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA

Values in relation to:

• Average annual loss in value of landings (£000s, 2022 prices)
• Direct + indirect reduction in GVA (PV) impact (£000s) 20 years
• Average (mean) number of direct + indirect jobs (year on year, over 20 years), Full Time Equivalents.

cannot be disclosed for confidentiality reasons, as it relates to the operations of fewer than three vessels.

11.5. Site: Forth Islands SPA

Protected features:

• Arctic tern - breeding
• Common tern - breeding
• Cormorant - breeding
• Gannet - breeding
• Guillemot - breeding
• Herring gull - breeding
• Kittiwake - breeding
• Lesser black-backed gull - breeding
• Puffin - breeding
• Razorbill - breeding
• Roseate tern - breeding
• Sandwich tern - breeding
• Shag - breeding

Feature conditions:

• Arctic tern - Favourable
• Common tern - Unfavourable
• Cormorant - Unfavourable
• Gannet - Favourable
• Guillemot - Favourable
• Herring gull - Favourable
• Kittiwake - Unfavourable
• Lesser black-backed gull - Favourable
• Puffin - Favourable
• Razorbill - Favourable
• Roseate tern - Unfavourable
• Sandwich tern - Unfavourable
• Shag - Unfavourable

Conservation objectives:

• Arctic tern - Maintain
• Common tern - Restore
• Cormorant - Restore
• Gannet - Maintain
• Guillemot - Maintain
• Herring gull - Maintain
• Kittiwake - Restore
• Lesser black-backed gull - Maintain
• Puffin - Maintain
• Razorbill - Maintain
• Roseate tern - Restore
• Sandwich tern - Restore
• Shag – Restore

NatureScot provided amalgamated season advice for this site but individual seasonality for species has been used to develop consultation options.

The proposed management measure for Forth Islands SPA is as follows:

Single Proposed Management Option:*

• Full site closure to longlines (until technical measures come into force) and hydraulic dredge.
• Set nets (including fyke nets) prohibited in areas down to 64.5m based on presence and maximum dive depth for shag. The whole site is shallower than 64.5m and shag present all year so doesn’t need to follow advice for guillemot with max five depth of 177m
• Pelagic seine (including ring-nets) prohibited in overlapping area with the Isle of May a SAC

A full site level of protection from the specified gear has been identified as the only suitable option in enabling the achievement of the desired level of protection for the feature in question.

*This site will have other demersal mobile measures that may apply from the overlapping portions with other sites. The Isle of May SAC would prohibit demersal trawls and seines, beam trawls and mechanical dredge in the overlapping areas shown on the map above.

Overlapping sites included in this consultation

This SPA overlaps with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA and the Isle of May SAC.

Estimated Socio-economic impacts of proposed measures for Forth Islands SPA

Values in relation to:

• Average annual loss in value of landings (£000s, 2022 prices)
• Direct + indirect reduction in GVA (PV) impact (£000s) 20 years
• Average (mean) number of direct + indirect jobs (year on year, over 20 years), Full Time Equivalents.

cannot be disclosed for confidentiality reasons, as it relates to the operations of fewer than three vessels.

11.6. Site: St Abb`s Head to Fast Castle SPA

Protected features:

• Guillemot - breeding
• Herring gull - breeding
• Kittiwake - breeding
• Razorbill - breeding
• Shag - breeding

Feature conditions:

• Guillemot - Favourable
• Herring gull - Unfavourable
• Kittiwake - Unfavourable
• Razorbill - Favourable
• Shag - Unfavourable

Conservation objectives:

• Guillemot - Maintain
• Herring gull - Restore
• Kittiwake - Restore
• Razorbill - Maintain
• Shag - Restore

The proposed management measure for St Abb’s Head to Fast Castle SPA is as follows:

Single Proposed Management Option:*

• Set nets (including fyke nets) prohibited in areas down to 64.5m based on presence and maximum dive depth of shag. (This matches measures in overlapping area with Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay for guillemot and set net prohibition for seals in overlapping area with Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SAC)
• Pelagic seine (including ring-nets) prohibited in overlapping areas with the Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SAC
• Longlines (until technical measures come into force) prohibited in overlapping area with the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA
• Full site closure to hydraulic dredge

A full site level of protection from the specified gear has been identified as the only suitable option in enabling the achievement of the desired level of protection for the feature in question.

* This site will have other demersal mobile measures that may apply from the overlapping portions with other sites. The overlapping portions shown on the map above with the Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SAC would prohibit demersal trawls and seines, beam trawls and mechanical dredge.

Overlapping sites included in this consultation

This SPA overlaps with the Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SAC and the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex SPA.

Estimated Socio-economic impacts of proposed measures for St Abb`s Head to Fast Castle SPA

No socio-economic impacts are anticipated for this site, based on available data in relation to:

• Average annual loss in value of landings (£000s, 2022 prices)
• Direct + indirect reduction in GVA (PV) impact (£000s) 20 years
• Average (mean) number of direct + indirect jobs (year on year, over 20 years), Full Time Equivalents