Queen of Sweden Historic Marine Protected Area - designation proposal: final business and regulatory impact assessment – 18 July 2025

Section 2: Engagement and information gathering

Engagement approach

In preparing the priorities for action set out in its Marine Strategy, Historic Scotland

carried out a detailed programme of stakeholder engagement involving the preparation of and public consultation on a discussion paper, Towards a strategy, the final version of which was published in 2012.

Additional engagement on matters in relation to Historic MPAs took place through the Scottish Government’s Marine Strategy Forum, and, since the creation of HES, through bi-lateral meetings with industry and other interested parties, including representatives of the fisheries, ports and heritage sectors.

Further engagement was undertaken through the Shetland Marine Spatial Planning Advisory Group (now Shetland Islands Marine Planning Partnership). A presentation on the proposal was provided to the forum membership on 25 July 2019. There were also follow-up bilateral discussions with the Lerwick Harbour Authority, the Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation and the Shetland Sub-Aqua Club. These discussions did not identify any significant issues.

This engagement was followed by an 8-week HES consultation, which ran from 20 February -17 April 2019, the findings from which formed a consultation analysis report provided to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government then ran a 4-week consultation from 30 October – 27 November 2019 but due to the impacts of COVID-19, work to progress the proposal was paused until 2024. Once restarted, work included contacting all previous respondents to the 2019 consultation, including the Shetland Islands Marine Planning Partnership, with whom a meeting was held in March 2024.

In addition to engaging with all previous respondents to the 2019 consultation, contact was made with a further 11 additional individuals and organisations who had not previously responded but had the potential to be interested. All were provided with links to the previous consultation documents, invited to provide views and comments and advise of any changes to previous responses.

Internal SG engagement/ engagement with wider Public Sector

Internal SG engagement

Officials have engaged with relevant policy areas across the Scottish Government e.g. fisheries policy colleagues.

UK/ Devolved Administrations

Not required due to the location of the wreck which is inside the Lerwick Harbour limits and close to the shore, i.e. within Scottish territorial waters.

Wider Public Sector

Shetland Islands Council were a key stakeholder in the development of the proposal, consultations and further stakeholder engagement in 2024.

International

Not required.

Business / Third Sector engagement

Fisheries stakeholders and Lerwick Harbour Authority were engaged with as part of the development of the proposal, consultations and further stakeholder engagement in 2024. Discussions with interested parties in Shetland were pivotal to the development of the socio-economic activities table within the ‘Sectors/Groups affected’ section above.