Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan

Glossary

Activity: a current or future use that is covered by a public right of use (e.g., navigation) and/or does not require a statutory consent to utilise a defined area from a competent authority to proceed (e.g., a Works Licence, Planning Permission, CAR Authorisation).

Acoustic deterrents: technologies which use noise to keep animals away from a specific area.

Adaptation: the action or process of adapting.

Amenity: the physical and social features of settlements and countryside that contribute to creating a comfortable and desirable living environment.

Anthropogenic noise: noise originating from human activity.

Appropriate Assessment (AA): the purpose of Appropriate Assessment is to ensure that protection of the integrity of European sites is a part of the planning process at a regional and local level. The requirement for Appropriate Assessment of plans or projects is outlined in Article 48 of The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended in Scotland), often referred to as the ‘Habitats Regulations’.

Benthic (noun: benthos): the plants and animals which live on the seabed.

Biodiversity: the variety (within and between species) of living things from all sources (terrestrial, marine, aquatic).

Biofuel: a fuel derived directly from living matter.

Biological Production: the amount and rate of production which occur in a given ecosystem over a given time period. It may apply to a single organism, a population, or entire communities and ecosystems.

Biological Records Centre: part of the Shetland Amenity Trust. The core element of the Shetland Biological Records Centre (SBRC) is a comprehensive database containing up-to-date information about Shetland’s wildlife. The information is available to everyone.

Biosecurity: procedures or measures designed to protect populations against harmful biological or biochemical substances or species (for example, invasive non-native species).

Breeding area: a site used by one or more species mainly for the purpose of reproduction and birthing.

Carbon sequestration: the process in which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Carbon sink: a natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores the atmosphere’s carbon.

Cetacean: marine mammal of the order Cetacea; a whale, dolphin or porpoise.

Character: a combination of features which distinguish an area. These each include architectural styles, main uses, landscape type, etc. A proposal would be ‘out of character’ if it introduced features not in keeping with those which make up an area’s existing character.

Competent Authority: under the Habitats Regulations a ‘competent authority’ is defined as anybody that has the power to undertake or give any consent, permission or other authorisation for a plan or project. Competent authorities include the Shetland Islands Council, Lerwick Port Authority, SEPA, Marine Directorate and the Northern Lighthouse Board.

Conservation: action(s) resulting in the preservation of the natural environment.

Cumulative: created by successive additions (for example of impacts).

Designated Site: sites that are designated for their value for nature conservation or their landscape value.

Design Statement: sets out the design principles which determine the design and layout of the development proposal.

Development: within the devolved competencies to which this plan applies, a use that requires a statutory consent or licence to utilise a defined area from a competent authority to proceed. This can include new developments or alterations, extensions or changes in material use to existing developments that require a statutory consent or licence.

Devolved competencies: matters within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and/or the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers.

Dyke: a wall built to prevent the sea from covering an area.

Ecological balance: a stable balance in the numbers of each species in an ecosystem.

Ecosystem: structure, process, functions and interaction among organisms, including humans, and their non-living environment.

Ecosystem Approach: the integrated management of multiple human activities based on knowledge of ecosystem dynamics to achieve sustainable use of ecosystem resources and maintenance of ecosystem integrity. Managed within the ecological constraints on which the environment depends.

Ecosystem function/ecological processes: dynamic biological and physical processes, for example natural cycles, currents, sediment movements, nutrient cycling, community and trophic structures and migratory species movements.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): a study based on expert professional opinion which gives a detailed assessment of a particular development and its impact upon the social and physical environment of the surrounding area.

Environmental Statement: a developer’s assessment of the likely environmental effects of their proposed development.

European Protected Species (EPS): species protected by the Habitats Regulations. A list of EPS can be found in Schedule 2 of the Habitats Regulations. Marine EPS include European otters, basking sharks, whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Fishing Effort: fishing effort limits manage the size and activity of the fishing fleet by restricting how much time vessels can spend at sea and the capacity they deploy. Effort is typically calculated by multiplying a vessel’s fishing capacity by the duration of its activity. Capacity may be measured using vessel size (gross tonnage) or engine power (kilowatts), resulting in effort units such as GT/days or KW/days. The Scottish Government under the UK Fisheries Act 2020 sets effort limits and allocates quota based on environmental, social and economic criteria. Fishing effort limits are important in preventing overfishing, and are therefore included in all multiannual plans that aim to recover depleted stocks.

Fully functioning ecosystem: the protection and maintenance of the physical structures which support, and the biological communities or ecosystem composition which manage ecological functions. Even if we do not understand exactly how a marine or coastal ecosystem works, it is still important to keep all the parts in the system and to retain the energy, nutrient, and biotic flows within and between the various parts of the ecosystem.

Gabion: a cage filled with rocks used for erosion control.

Geodiversity: the variety of earth materials, forms and processes that constitute and shape the Earth (either whole, or in part). Materials include minerals, rocks, sediments, fossils, soils and water

Geomorphology: the study of landforms (in this case the coastline), including their origin and evolution, and the processes that shape them.

Geotourism: tourism that sustains or enhances the distinctive geographical character of a place- its environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture, and the well-being of its residents.

Good Environmental Status (GES): the environmental status of marine waters where these provide ecologically diverse and dynamic oceans and seas which are clean, healthy and productive.

Groyne: a low wall or sturdy barrier built out into the sea to prevent the repeated movement of the waves from removing parts of the land.

Habitat: the environment in which a species lives at any stage in its life cycle.

Heritage: denoting or relating to things of special architectural, historical or natural value that are preserved for the nation

Historic Environment Scotland: the body responsible for safeguarding Scotland’s built heritage.

Identified Waters: are sampled and monitored by SEPA to achieve demanding environmental and public health standards which apply across the European Union.

Impact: a human disturbance which causes a change in a population’s composition, abundance, or distribution. Examples of impacts include: effect of waste discharge on eelgrass and scouring of vegetation from boating activities in shallow water.

Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA): geographically defined areas identified as critical for the survival and well-being of marine mammals, based on criteria such as breeding, feeding, migration, or social behaviour. IMMAs are non-legally binding but serve to guide conservation planning and marine spatial management.

Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA): areas identified as critical for the survival of sharks, skates and rays based on factors such as reproduction, feeding or migration. ISRAs are non-binding but aim to inform conservation efforts and marine spatial planning.

Infrastructure: pipelines, cables, wrecks, archaeological remains, shore access, barges, pontoons, shellfish growing equipment, offshore renewable energy structures, weather and radar masts, buoys and anchorage.

In-situ: in the natural, original, or appropriate position.

Intertidal: the area of coast between the mean high-water level and mean low water level.

Local Development Plan (LDP): a detailed land-use planning document prepared by the Shetland Islands Council setting out specific policies and proposals for sustainable development.

Marine Mammal Observers (MMOs): professionals in environmental consulting who specialise in whales and dolphins.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): include Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and Ramsar sites as well as new designated areas under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Under the 2010 Act, Scottish Ministers may designate any area as a Nature Conservation MPA, a Demonstration and Research MPA or a Historic MPA.

Marine renewables: refers to marine renewable energy devices such as wave, wind and tidal.

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) fishery certification programme and seafood ecolabel recognise and reward sustainable fishing and seafood traceability. They ensure that MSC labelled seafood comes from, and can be traced back to, a sustainable fishery.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA): an executive agency working to prevent the loss of lives at sea and is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy.

MHWS (Mean High Water Spring): predicted high water heights of Spring Tide over a period of approximately 19 years.

Mitigation: to take measures to moderate or alleviate an impact.

Multi-trophic aquaculture: where the by-products from one species are recycled to become inputs for another. For example, finfish aquaculture can be combined with seaweed aquaculture to create balanced systems with benefits to both species.

National Scenic Areas (NSAs): areas that are nationally important for their landscape quality. There are stricter planning controls within NSAs and planning authorities have to take care that new development does not detract from the scenic quality of the area.

Natural Capital: renewable and non-renewable stocks of natural assets such as geology, soil, air, water, plants, and animals that provide a flow of benefits to people, including ecosystem services like clean water, pollination, climate regulation, and recreational opportunities.

Nursery area: habitats providing shelter and food to marine fauna during the vulnerable, juvenile stages of life (for example eelgrass habitats are nurseries for many species of fish).

OSPAR: Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (Oslo and Paris Commissions).

Paleo-environmental: an environment of a past geological age.

Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM): the use of underwater microphones (hydrophones) to detect and monitor vocalising marine mammals.

Precautionary Principle: a principle adopted by the UN Conference on the Environment and Development (1992) that “in order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”

The precautionary principle permits a lower level of proof of harm to be used in policy-making whenever the consequences of waiting for higher levels of proof may be very costly and/or irreversible.

Priority Marine Feature (PMF): habitats and species which are considered to be marine nature conservation priorities in Scottish waters.

Productivity: the rate at which radiant energy is used by producers to form organic substances as food for consumers.

Protect: to shield from harm.

Ramsar Sites: wetland areas of high ecological value. Designated under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

Reef: subtidal and intertidal rocky outcrops supporting diverse assemblages of marine flora and fauna.

Saltmarsh: coastal wetland plant community dominated by herbs and low shrubs and located in the upper intertidal areas of the coast (often on the landward side). Saltmarsh areas are usually waterlogged and frequently flooded with saltwater by the tide. Saltmarsh assemblages may extend inland for several hundred kilometres and can contain other terrestrial salt tolerant plants.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA): the public body responsible for environmental protection in Scotland. Its main aim is to provide an efficient and integrated environmental protection system for Scotland that will both improve the environment and contribute to the Scottish Ministers' goal of sustainable development. Full details are available on SEPA’s website.

NatureScot: an independent body responsible to the First Minister whose task it is to secure the conservation and enhancement of Scotland’s natural heritage. SNH aims to help people to enjoy Scotland’s natural heritage, understand it more fully and use it wisely so that it can be sustained for future generations.

Seabird: aerial birds (such as Gannets) and swimming birds (such as Puffins) usually seen at, and deriving most or all of their food from, the sea.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs): areas of special interest by reason of their flora, fauna, geological or physiographical features.

Spawning area: habitats critical to the spawning stage of the reproductive cycle. Spawning areas are often geographically distinct from nursery areas; for example, Monkfish spawn in deeper waters but their larvae drift into sheltered coastal areas around Shetland.

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs): areas identified as supporting rare, endangered and vulnerable habitats or species. Together with SPAs they form a network of protected ‘European Sites’ across the European Community.

Special Protection Areas (SPAs): important habitats for rare, threatened or migratory birds. Together with SACs they form a network of protected ‘European Sites’ across the European Community.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): the process of assessing policies, plans and programmes (rather than individual projects) for their environmental impacts.

Subtidal: benthic area from the low tide line to the seaward edge of the continental slope.

Sustainable development: enabling development that meets today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In other words, it means promoting better quality of life and better quality environments for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren. Sustainable development is a key aim of the Shetland Islands Council and the UK Government.

Sustainable use: the use of components of biological diversity in a way, and at a rate, that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations.

Transitional waters: are bodies of surface water in the vicinity of river mouths which are partly saline in character as a result of their proximity to coastal waters but which are substantially influenced by flows.

Use: economic, recreational, social or cultural activities in the marine and coastal environment that may not be directly associated with development, for example, commercial and recreational fishing.

Wastewater: usually refers to the discharge of sewage, or effluent from a process.