Scottish Government biodiversity duty report 2021-2023

5. Marine Directorate

5.1 Introductory information

The Marine Directorate is responsible for the integrated management of Scotland's seas, working closely with delivery partners NatureScot, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

Key responsibilities include:

• marine renewable, fisheries and protected species licensing
• ensuring compliance with fisheries regulations
• promoting sustainable, profitable and well-managed fisheries and aquaculture industries
• ensuring a sound scientific evidence base exists to inform policy
• the sustainable management of freshwater fish and fisheries resources.

The Marine Directorate participates in a range of international fora to further Scotland’s interests on the marine environment and biodiversity, including OSPAR (the mechanism by which governments cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic), and several Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, as well as contributing to the work of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

5.2 Actions to protect and enhance biodiversity

The Scottish Government’s Marine Nature Conservation Strategy outlines our vision, aims and objectives for protecting and enhancing marine biodiversity. The strategy sets out our vision and framework for marine nature conservation based on a three pillar approach:

• species conservation;
• site protection;
• wider seas policies and measures.

During the reporting period significant additions have been made to Scotland’s marine protected area (MPA) network:

• The Red Rocks and Longay MPA in the Inner Sound of Skye received permanent protection in February 2023 after first being designated as an urgent MPA in March 2021. The site provides protection for egg-laying habitat of the critically endangered flapper skate.
• Two marine Special Protection Areas (SPA) were classified in February 2022 in North Orkney and Scapa Flow – covering an area larger than the size of Edinburgh and Glasgow combined. They provide protection for rare and vulnerable migratory wild birds, including the great northern diver and Slavonian grebe.

We have also continued to develop fisheries management measures for those MPAs that still require them, and to safeguard vulnerable seabed Priority Marine Features outside of the MPA network. The Scottish MPA network now covers approximately 37% of our seas, comprising 231 sites for nature conservation designed to protect a broad range of habitats and species. The MPA network contributes to Scotland’s international commitments to protect the marine environment in the North-East Atlantic, as required under the OSPAR Convention.

We worked closely with the rest of the UK and the other OSPAR Contracting Parties on the design and implementation of a new Strategy to improve the state of the marine environment in the North-East Atlantic. The OSPAR North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy is the key means by which OSPAR’s 16 Contracting Parties will implement the OSPAR Convention until 2030. Adopted in October 2021, it sets out collective objectives to tackle the triple challenge facing the North-East Atlantic ocean: biodiversity loss, pollution, including marine litter, and climate change.

A range of additional national strategies and initiatives have been adopted, or are under development:

• In March 2022 we established Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision that “by 2045 Scotland’s shared stewardship of our marine environment supports ecosystem health, improved livelihoods, economic prosperity, social inclusion and wellbeing”, recognising that our economy and society are embedded in nature.
• In May 2022 we launched the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF), hosted by NatureScot. This innovative funding initiative has seen grants awarded to a number of exciting projects, including removing invasive species on the islands of the Forth, establishing an innovative floating garden in the Clyde, and restoring seagrass in Loch Craignish and Orkney.
• The Scottish Wild Salmon Strategy, published in January 2022, sets out a framework for supporting the recovery of Scotland’s wild Atlantic salmon populations, which have undergone significant decline in recent decades. An Implementation Plan for the strategy was published in February 2023.
• Annually updated Conservation of Salmon Regulations were established in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to protect wild Atlantic salmon where populations are most at risk, and maintained the prohibition on coastal netting for salmon.
• A refreshed Marine Litter Strategy published in September 2022 outlines new priority actions to tackle marine litter in Scotland, in particular marine plastics, and its damaging impacts on marine wildlife and ecosystems.
• In summer 2023 we consulted on proposals to close fishing for sandeel in all Scottish waters. The proposals could provide benefits to the wider marine environment through increasing ecosystem resilience and as a food source for a wide range of sandeel predators.
• In summer 2021 we consulted on a UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy to provide a coherent approach to conserving these species, given their highly mobile populations.
• An Aquaculture Code of Practice in relation to marine mammal interactions was published in September 2021.
• The Scottish Government’s Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture was published in July 2023 and sets out our long-term ambitions for the finfish, shellfish and seaweed sectors, and the wider aquaculture supply chain.
• A Scottish Seabird Conservation Strategy is under development and will aim to maximise the conservation prospects of seabirds, recognising that Scotland's marine environment is globally important for many seabird species.
• We continue to deliver on the actions contained within Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, and over the reporting period consulted on several policies intended to support sustainable and responsible fisheries management in Scotland. This includes consultations on a Future Catching Policy, vessels tracking and monitoring for fishing vessels under 12m in length, and the introduction of Remote Electronic Monitoring for certain types of fishing vessels.
• We continue to deliver actions under the Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative. This includes supporting the UK Bycatch Monitoring Programme, which places observers on a selection of the Scottish fishing fleets; and exploring potential mitigation solutions to address bycatch in our fisheries.
• The Scottish wild bird Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza response plan was published on 11 August 2023, which sets out how the Scottish Government and its partners will respond to outbreaks of HPAI in wild birds in Scotland. It also provides advice and guidance. The Scottish Avian Influenza Task Force continues to co-ordinate activity to monitor and minimise the impact of avian influenza on wild birds, with a new species recovery sub-group established with the aim of developing a recovery plan providing guidance on measures to promote wild bird recovery.

Case study: marine Invasive non-native species

• Invasive non-native species (INNS) are one of the five most significant drivers of biodiversity loss - responsible for approximately 60% of plant and animal extinctions globally - resulting in negative impacts on people as well as nature.
• The Marine Directorate leads the Scottish Marine INNS Group, a multi-discipline group comprised of statutory organisations and marine scientists, which scrutinises develops INNS policy and serves as a knowledge exchange platform for academics and policy makers. It also acts as a response team to manage INNS outbreaks as required.
• We collaborated with the UK Government and Devolved Administrations through the UK Invasive Species Programme Board to develop the refreshed GB INNS Strategy (2023 -2030). Several Pathway Action Plans are overseen by this group to address routes of spread for INNS.
• Scotland is also centrally involved in the British-Irish Council’s Invasive Species Sub-Group, and led on developing an Action Plan on Didemnum vexillum (Carpet Sea Squirt), published in 2021.
• Biosecurity Plans for Loch Creran and Loch Fyne have been published by the Scottish Government in response to Carpet Sea Squirt outbreaks at those locations, enabling actions to be taken at a local and regional scale to enhance biosecurity practices and minimise threats to marine biodiversity.
• Monitoring INNS is a core component of assessing Good Environmental Status under national obligations and through the OSPAR Convention; however consistent monitoring is focussed on hotspots at present due to resource constraints. New and innovative ways of marine monitoring are being trialled in Scotland, via detection of INNS through environmental DNA in water samples and scrape samples from navigational buoys.

5.3 Mainstreaming biodiversity

Marine planning powers, as provided by the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, are being implemented at a national and regional level. The National Marine Plan was published in March 2015. It is statutory document directing decision making by public authorities and it takes an ecosystem based approach, meaning the health and function of marine ecosystems is central to marine planning policy and decisions made in accordance with the plan. A range of policies which relate to issues important for ecosystem health and function, and also policies protecting biodiversity, apply to all decisions by public authorities which may affect the marine environment. Marine planning at a regional level is currently being developed, meaning that national policy will be adapted to apply to local ecosystems, issues and circumstances.

In March 2022, we published the Blue Economy Vision for Scotland, outlining a long-term ambition for shared stewardship of our marine environment by 2045. The vision sets out a new approach that puts environmental and societal issues on a more equal footing with economic interests. The six blue economy outcomes have been identified to respond to the major challenges of our time, including biodiversity loss.

In September 2022, Scottish Ministers announced their intention to start the process of developing a new National Marine Plan, to "address the global climate and nature crises by carefully managing increased competition for space and resources in the marine environment". There are clear synergies between the six outcomes of Scotland's Blue Economy Vision and the existing NMP objectives, making it a key delivery mechanism for Scotland's Blue Economy. The programme of work to develop a "National Marine Plan 2" (NMP2) will integrate these outcomes and seek to address the increasing competition for marine space, whilst supporting progress to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.

5.4 Nature-based solutions, climate change and biodiversity

Scotland’s blue carbon habitats such as saltmarsh and seagrass can offer a marine nature-based solution to climate change and have a pivotal role to play in the net zero transition, with their ability to sequester and store carbon as well as providing wider climate adaptation services and supporting biodiversity.

The Scottish Blue Carbon Forum (SBCF) continues to support strengthening the evidence base for marine and coastal blue carbon habitats, including in relation to climate change adaptation. To date we have committed over £650,000 to the SBCF research programme and built significant national and international partnerships. The SBCF is working with the UK Blue Carbon Forum and UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, both of which formed in 2022.

The Marine Directorate partnered with the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum and St Andrews University to deliver a Blue Carbon Conference during COP26, at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on 11-12 November 2021. The conference showcased Scotland's leadership in blue carbon research and brought together policy makers and researchers to explore the potential of blue carbon as a nature based solution to climate change.

In April 2022, we launched the Blue Carbon International Policy Challenge that saw four project teams selected to receive funding to help realise the potential of blue carbon nature based solutions for climate, people and biodiversity, globally.

We have continued to support the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership to work on updating the evidence review papers to ensure the latest information is available to decision makers. Updated scientific reviews, supported by experts from the Marine Directorate, have been produced on the topics of Coastal Flooding, Aquaculture, Ocean Acidification, Stratification, Temperature, Storms and Waves, Ocean Circulation, Oxygen and Marine Mammals.

5.5 Public engagement and workforce development

The Marine Directorate has an outreach programme combining in person visits with topic boxes for teachers to use as part of their lesson plans. For example, in 2023 there were 17 visits to 10 schools and youth groups covering a variety of topics including marine renewables, marine litter, seas and oceans and world of work of a scientist. The activities reached in the region of 900 youngsters, teachers and leaders, mainly in the northeast around Aberdeen. The programme helps teachers and schools in delivering lessons on climate, biodiversity, litter and sustainability and can feed into their Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation.

The Marine Directorate also helps to raise public awareness and understanding of marine biodiversity topics through media releases, social media and the marine blog. Highlights include an Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) week social media campaign and promotion of consultations on the draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

5.6 Research and monitoring

5.6.1 Research activities

Since 2021 the Marine Directorate has:

• Conducted 54 research surveys of our seas and published 133 peer-reviewed scientific papers that improve our understanding of the marine environment and how we might better protect it.
• Provided scientific evidence and advice relating to the protection of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in EU and international waters.
• Completed 24 independent fisheries surveys of fish and shellfish stocks of interest to the Scottish fishing industry. Contributed data and expertise to stock assessments allowing the UK to receive international scientific advice (from the International Council for Exploration of the Seas) on catching opportunities for 173 distinct stocks.

Scottish Government research publications on the topic of marine and fisheries are available on the Scottish Government website.

In collaboration with our monitoring partners JNCC and NatureScot, Marine Directorate scientists have continued to monitor seabed biodiversity under the auspices of the Scottish Marine Protected Area (MPA) monitoring strategy. This strategy ensures that the necessary information is collected from the Scottish MPA network to underpin assessment and reporting obligations. Biodiversity data from this monitoring is made openly available via the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN).

Marine Directorate scientists have reported on biodiversity within the OSPAR Quality Status Report 2023, which is a comprehensive assessment of environmental status across the North-East Atlantic against objectives set out by the North East Atlantic Environmental Strategy. The report is made up of more than 120 assessments and covers various aspects, including, biodiversity, habitats, and human activities that impact the marine environment. It also identifies priority elements for actions to achieve OSPAR’s vision of a clean, healthy and biologically diverse North-East Atlantic Ocean, which is productive, used sustainably and resilient to climate change and ocean acidification.

Marine Directorate scientists participated in several International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) expert groups, contributing to a wide range of fisheries, aquaculture and marine environmental science and international advice. These included non-native species, benthic ecology, marine planning, developing advice for sustainable fisheries management, pollution impacts, species and habitats.

In collaboration with the UK Government, Natural Resources Wales and the Ocean Conservation Trust we have strengthened our data on the public understanding of the ocean through a survey on ocean literacy, to better understand public awareness and attitudes towards the marine and coastal environment. Helping Scotland become an ‘ocean literate and aware nation’ is a crucial commitment in Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision to achieve the behaviour change needed to address challenges facing our coast and seas, and sustainably manage ocean resources.