Proposed Fisheries Management Measures for Inshore Marine Protected Areas and Proposed Priority Marine Feature Management Areas in Scottish Waters - Sustainability Appraisal
The Sustainability Appraisal is the overarching document which aims to capture the complexities of the potential socio-economic and environmental impacts of fisheries management. The Strategic Environmental Assessment and a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment are used the inform the appraisal.
Overview
The Sustainability Appraisal (SA) summarises the potential environmental, social and economic effects of the implementation of the proposed fisheries management measures, and alternatives to these proposals. It does so by combining the key outcomes of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Socio-economic Impact Assessment (SEIA).
The Sustainability Appraisal is a combined consideration of the SEA and SEIA. Within the SEA the assessment of potential effects has been undertaken as a relatively high-level and largely qualitative assessment. This reflects the national scale coverage of the proposed fisheries management measures and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas. Quantitative analysis has been used where possible, to explore existing pressures in MPAs and proposed PMF management areas through analysis of proxies of fishing intensity to understand existing pressures in the sites/areas and the potential level of displacement that may occur should the proposed fisheries management measures be introduced.. Within the SEIA there is estimation of the effects of the proposed fisheries management measures in terms of impacts on commercial fisheries; the distribution of impacts across coastal communities and associated social impacts; impacts to the marine environment; and public sector impacts. The SEIA was partly informed by a participatory research project on social values undertaken in 2023.
As part of the assessment reasonable alternatives are assessed, these are options 1 and 2, reflecting different extents in which management measures would apply. These are considered equally in the assessment.
The findings from both the SEA and the SEIA have been combined to provide an overall SA of the proposed fisheries management measures, to accompany the consultation document.
The full document is available as a PDF from the above supporting documents section.
Contact
Email: marine_biodiversity@gov.scot