2014 Consultation on the Management of Inshore Special Areas of Conservation and Marine Protected Areas Overview

Overview

Thank you for taking the time to consider this consultation paper. Your views on the proposed management approaches are welcomed. These cover 11 Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas ( MPAs) and 9 Special Areas of Conservation ( SACs). The proposed measures are generally for fisheries management but controls for some other activities are also included.

The consultation invites views on:

1. your preferred management approach for each MPA or SAC;
2. the potential environmental effects of the approaches;
3. the potential socio-economic cost and benefits of the approaches;
4. other considerations for each MPA or SAC.

What documents should I read to answer the questions?

Along with this document you will need;

1. the approaches document;
2. the maps document;
3. the environmental report.

You may also wish to consider the following information sources;

1. the Feature Activity Sensitivity Tool ( FEAST);
2. the Management Options Papers;
3. the advice on SAC fisheries management;
4. the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessments for the MPAs;
5. the site prioritisation document.

How do I respond and get involved in the consultation?

We are inviting views on management measures for a total of 20 protected areas, on the Marine Scotland website at;

www.scotland.gov.uk/MarineProtectedAreas

Links to all the relevant documents and information can be found at the above web address.

Summary details of the sites are in Annex A. This will guide you to the relevant parts of the approaches to management and maps documents for each site. Further details on how to respond can be found in Annex C. The consultation questions are in Annex C. The Respondent Information Form can be found in Annex D.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.