Scottish biodiversity strategy: report to Parliament 2020 to 2024

6. Outcome 6: Marine and coastal

Scotland’s marine and coastal environments are clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse, meeting the long-term needs of people and nature.

6.1 Adopt a National Marine Plan and develop regional marine plans to aid balanced decision-making in the marine environment.

Good progress has been made to date on the development of a new National Marine Plan 2 (NMP2) for Scotland’s Seas, which will replace the existing Plan (adopted in 2015). Stakeholder feedback, and statutory reviews in 2018 and 2021, indicated the need for a new National Marine Plan to better reflect the evolving context and priorities for Scotland’s marine space since 2015, including the need to tackle the twin climate and nature crises and support Scotland's approach to achieving net zero.

To date Scottish Ministers have not yet adopted a Regional Marine Plan, however, good progress has been made by the Marine Planning Partnerships for the Clyde, Shetland and Orkney marine regions. Public consultation on a draft Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan opened on the 1 August 2024, and a post consultation draft plan for Shetland is currently under review before seeking Ministers’ approval for adoption. Clyde MPP hope to make significant progress towards a consultation-ready draft plan in 2024.

6.2 Establish a coherent network of Marine Protected Areas, promoting sustainable use and conservation.

The Scottish Marine Protected Area (MPA) network covers 37% of Scotland’s seas meaning that it is providing a significant contribution to the ‘30 by 30’ target from the Convention on Biological Diversity. Since 2020 several new sites have been added to the network including 14 Special Protection Areas for seabirds, new sites for marine mammals, basking sharks and flapper skate, and the West of Scotland MPA which is the largest MPA in the North-east Atlantic covering over 100,000 km².

Work is now focussed on ensuring the MPA network is effectively managed, including through effective monitoring and communications. Most activities and developments are managed in MPAs through existing licensing and consenting processes. NatureScot is supporting Scottish Government in developing statutory management measures for fishing activity for the remaining MPAs that do not currently have them in place in inshore waters, with JNCC providing support in offshore waters. The measures for each MPA are unique, tailored to the requirements of the protected features and the fishing activity occurring. A public consultation on the measures for inshore waters is planned. A consultation on the proposed measures for MPAs in offshore waters was launched on the 19 August 2024.

6.3 Collate information on the location and sensitivity of priority marine features and make this information available to support their protection.

Records of Priority Marine Features (PMFs) are collated into a Geodatabase of Marine features in Scotland (GeMS). These are then mobilised as web services and made available for download from the NatureScot Open Data Hub; additionally National Marine Plan interactive (NMPi) consumes the associated web mapping service and so the records of PMFs can be viewed alongside other data relevant to marine planning. The Marine Recorder database has been redeveloped as a cloud-based application for storing PMF habitat data and will be able to more efficiently pass records through to GeMS. Information on the sensitivity of PMFs to pressures arising from human activities is available from the Feature Activity Sensitivity Tool (FeAST).

6.4 Achieve good environmental status for Scottish Seas

The UK Marine Strategy provides a framework for achieving Good Environmental Status (GES). The framework comprises assessments, monitoring programmes, and programmes of measures based around 11 descriptors (e.g. marine birds, commercial fish, marine litter). The last published assessment in 2019 showed that GES was being achieved for a minority of descriptors (e.g. contaminants, eutrophication), with partial achievement for some (e.g. cetaceans, seals) and GES not being achieved for others (e.g. benthic habitats, fish, and non-indigenous species). An update to the UKMS monitoring programmes was published in 2022, and a new programme of measures is expected to be published in 2024/5.

6.5 Bring CFP fish stocks to levels consistent with the maximum sustainable yield wherever possible, and take account of biodiversity in managing fisheries.

The UK’s objectives for the sustainable management of fish stocks are set out in the Fisheries Act 2020 and the UK Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) 2022. Catch limits for most of Scotland’s fish stocks are set in international negotiations, and as a result are set in agreement with Coastal State partners and not unilaterally decided upon. Quotas are subsequently determined by the UK Secretary of State. Scotland’s approach to these negotiations is underpinned by principles including use of the best available scientific evidence, and seeking to secure catch limits which are sustainable for stocks and industries in the long term.

In 2024, 41 key stocks in Scottish sea basins were subject to advice from the International Council for Exploration of the Seas (ICES). Catch limits for 80% (33) of these stocks were set within either the maximum sustainable yield, or other headline scientific advice.

Another important step in 2024 has been the progress on work to develop Fishery Management Plans for the key species managed by quotas (demersal, pelagic and Nephrops). There is related work to develop a Future Catching Policy as part of the Scottish Fisheries Strategy, and work on inshore fisheries to transition towards a more agile model of management. Both mechanisms may provide opportunities to develop and embed the ecosystem-based approach and identify knowledge gaps and research needs for implementation.

6.6 Implement a rapid response framework to prevent colonisation of new invasive species in Scotland’s seas and islands.

Biosecurity for Scotland’s Seabird Islands is a programme funded by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund bringing together nature conservation organisations, island communities and businesses to safeguard Scotland’s most important seabird islands from invasive non-native mammalian predators. Since the Biosecurity for LIFE project was set up in June 2018, 13 ‘probable’ or ‘confirmed’ mammal incursions have been investigated on Scottish seabird islands. Island managers are supported by two biosecurity officers, trained volunteers, three fully equipped incursion hubs and a conservation detection dog to assist with responses. Best-practice incursion response requires the availability of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), and the withdrawal of authorisation for SGAR use in open areas after 2024 presents a significant challenge for responding effectively to rodent incursions on seabird islands.

For other marine invasive species, the challenge is to prevent and slow their spread. Marine Biosecurity Plans are used at both regional and local levels to address the risks of spreading species like carpet sea squirt and slipper limpet, which present a high risk to nature and/or marine industries. Biosecurity protocols, such as the guidance supporting translocation of native oysters and seagrass, can help to prevent the spread of non-native pathogens as well as invasive species.

6.7 Improve the monitoring of the marine environment to identify changes and guide progress towards the above outcomes.

The most recently updated UKMS monitoring programmes were published in 2022 and set out how data are being gathered to support assessment of the state of our seas. This is complemented by the Scottish MPA Monitoring Strategy which is led by Scottish Government and sets out our collective approach to MPA-related survey and monitoring. NatureScot’s work continues to focus on monitoring MPAs in territorial waters with a range of partners including government, academic, NGO and citizen science (for example, through Seasearch and the Community-led Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Project). We are continuing to develop our approach to better understand whether MPA conservation objectives are being met, and the effectiveness of management measures.

6.8 Improve understanding of how coastal ecosystems are likely to adapt to climate change and develop appropriate strategies for coastal zone management.

Dynamic Coast research provides the evidence base for past and anticipated future coastal change. In its 2022 Report to Scottish Parliament the Climate Change Committee (CCC) noted that most local authorities still had no plans to manage anticipated increases in coastal erosion. However, the Scottish Government Coastal Change Adaptation Fund aims to address this in 2024-25 and is supporting coastal authorities to plan ahead and invest in resilience measures. Four of the top eight most at-risk coastal authorities are expecting to start developing Coastal Change Adaptation Plans (CCAPs) during 2024/25 with two already doing so.

Research into anticipated ecosystem change continues to be limited by an absence of monitoring data and is a key priority action for delivery for coasts via the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy but is dependent on investment and capacity to deliver on evidence gaps. The CCC noted Scotland was the only home nation without a funded coastal monitoring strategy / system, and for ‘adaptation plans to be effective these systems need to be created and implemented without delay’.

6.9 Monitoring this Outcome

The seabirds indicator is based on numbers and breeding success for multiple species, as described in the Table below, and provides a good indication of the health of Scotland’s marine environment. The indicator was last updated in 2019 and so does not include results of monitoring in more recent years such as changes in numbers and breeding success because of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.