Scottish Government Launches Inshore MPA Fisheries Consultation, SFF Gives Cautious Welcome

The Scottish Government has opened its long-awaited ⁠‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌⁠public consultation on fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas, with the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) giving an initial positive reaction to the approach being taken.

SFF welcomes zonal approach

The SFF said the consultation package is large and detailed and will take time to consider in full, but that the evidence and assessments supporting zoned and proportionate management, rather than blanket restrictions across entire MPAs, was an important starting point.

The Federation will now examine the consultation documents in detail and work with its member associations to assess the proposed measures for individual MPAs and their potential impact on fishing businesses and coastal communities.

SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said commercial fishermen had been engaged in the development of Scotland’s MPA network from the outset over a decade ago, and had consistently made the case that management of the inshore MPAs must be based on evidence, proportionate to conservation objectives, and take proper account of the communities whose livelihoods depend on those waters.

Macdonald said MPAs were established to balance conservation with sustainable use, and that it was important this balance remained central to how they are managed. She said the SFF was pleased the Scottish Government appeared committed to that original premise.

She welcomed indications that the expert assessments commissioned by the Scottish Government favoured a zoned approach rather than blanket restrictions, which the assessments show would be disproportionate. However, she cautioned that the detail would be crucial, since Scotland’s inshore waters support a diverse fishing industry and the consequences of individual proposals will vary considerably between different areas, fisheries and communities.

Macdonald said the Federation will take the time needed to examine the proposals carefully, consult its member associations, and assess whether the measures proposed are necessary, evidence based and proportionate. Where measures are genuinely required to achieve clearly defined conservation objectives, she said, the fishing industry has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to engage and work constructively. Equally, she said, restrictions should not be imposed where the evidence does not justify them or where the same objectives can be achieved in ways that allow sustainable fishing to continue.

The SFF will submit a detailed response to the consultation following engagement with its member associations.

What the consultation proposes

The consultation, published by Marine Scotland, covers proposed fisheries management measures for 166 protected sites and areas across Scotland’s inshore waters. This includes 76 designated MPA sites (comprising 21 Special Areas of Conservation, 44 Special Protection Areas and 11 Nature Conservation MPAs) and 90 proposed PMF management areas covering the 11 habitats and species identified as most vulnerable to bottom-contacting mobile fishing gear, including maerl beds, native oysters, flame shell beds and seagrass beds.

For MPA sites, two options are generally ⁠‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌⁠on the table: zonal restrictions on specified gear within part of a site, which may be seasonal or apply only above certain engine power thresholds, or restrictions applied across the full designated site. Where a single option has been developed for a site, this reflects NatureScot’s advice and the distribution of protected features there.

For the proposed PMF management areas, there is no zonal option. All proposals are full-area closures to bottom-contacting demersal mobile gear, with two footprint options presented where relevant: a smaller area reflecting compliance and evidence considerations, or a larger area offering greater protection.

Three gear categories are used throughout the consultation: demersal mobile gear (trawls, dredges, seines that contact the seabed), demersal static gear (pots, creels, longlines and set nets), and pelagic gear (ring-nets and purse seines that do not contact the seabed).

One site, the Solway Firth SAC, will not be subject to new measures under this consultation. The Scottish Government said the evidence does not support high confidence in the location of reef habitat there, and the site will instead be managed adaptively with ongoing monitoring.

Government says no decisions made yet

Announcing the launch, the Scottish Government said the proposals had been shaped by more than 120 meetings with the fishing industry, environmental groups, coastal communities and local authorities over the past four years.

Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture, Marine and the Islands, said the scale and complexity of the proposals, covering more than 160 sites, had led ministers to extend the consultation period beyond the standard 12 weeks. The consultation will remain open until 18 January 2027.

Fairlie said he was grateful to those who had contributed to development of the proposals and looked forward to continuing to work closely with them throughout the consultation period and beyond, to achieve an appropriate balance between environmental protection and the social and economic wellbeing of coastal and island communities.

The measures being consulted on were originally due to be introduced in 2016, and the consultation itself was delayed from an earlier planned launch after the Scottish Government said more time was needed to finalise statutory assessments. Once implemented, the measures would be brought in through orders under the Inshore Fishing (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967, meaning breaches would become a criminal offence.

Responses to the consultation can be submitted via the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space platform before it closes on 18 January 2027.

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