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

Implementation of measures

There are 2 possible ways to implement the new management measures;

The first is to use powers under the Inshore (Fishing) Scotland Act 1984. Clearly this can only be used for fisheries measures. Generally this route will be used for relatively straightforward spatial measures. It is the only way to deliver measures for Special Areas of Conservation ( SACs) that do not overlap with a Marine Protected Areas ( MPAs).

The second is to use powers under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 to put in place Marine Conservation Orders ( MCOs). This can be used for MPAs and overlapping SACs for management measures of any activity. This route will be used where measures are required for other activities as well as fisheries. The powers under the 2010 Act to create MCOs also allows for permit schemes. This may allow for novel or intricate management approaches to be used in some cases.

In the site by site section there will be reference to the current thinking regarding the implementation of management. This is subject to change post consultation depending on the final design of the measures. Ensuring that the final measures are robust will be the deciding factor in choosing the implementation route.