Fisheries management measures within Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): Draft fisheries assessments methodology report

1. Requirement for draft Fisheries Assessments

The Scottish Government's vision for the marine environment is of clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas; managed to meet the long-term needs of nature and people. To help achieve this, Scottish Ministers have committed to implementing fisheries management measures for existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where these are not already in place. Throughout these draft Fisheries Assessments and associated consultation documentation on proposed fisheries management measures in Scottish offshore MPAs we refer to sites designated under section 116 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 as Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (NCMPA). The term is used to collectively refer to these NCMPAs as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC). Scottish Ministers have taken an evidence-based approach to developing fisheries management measures for NCMPAs and SACs to ensure they are managed to the meet needs of the protected features, their conservation objectives and site integrity, whilst still allowing sustainable use to continue.

The objective of the draft Fisheries Assessments is to assess the potential impacts of commercial fishing activities on certain NCMPAs and SACs.

Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (the Habitats Directive), contains a requirement for a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) to be undertaken for any plan or project proposed which is not directly connected with or necessary to the management of a European site, that may have a significant effect on that site, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects. The Habitats Directive has been implemented for sites within the offshore region by The Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.

No equivalent requirement is in place for non-European Site designations, such as NCMPAs. However, Scottish Ministers have taken the decision to assess the impact of commercial fishing activities within each NCMPA wholly or partly within the Scottish offshore region to determine whether the current levels of fishing activities within each NCMPA would or might hinder the conservation objectives for that NCMPA and to identify options for management measures. Draft Fisheries Assessments have therefore been prepared for both SACs and NCMPAs, with the aim of finalising the Fisheries Assessment following public consultation.

In the context of these draft Fisheries Assessments, commercial fishing activity within SACs is considered to be the plan or project. The implications of fishing activity in view of the conservation objectives for each SAC are assessed through the fisheries screening stage (Part A), the fisheries assessment (Part B), and the in combination (cumulative effect) assessment (Part C).

These draft Fisheries Assessments use the best available evidence to fully consider potential impacts of commercial fishing activity, and in-combination (cumulative) effects with other plans and projects, against the conservation objectives for the site. If the assessment concludes that use of certain fishing gear types is not compatible with the conservation objectives of the site, proposed fisheries management measures will be considered.

For the draft Fisheries Assessments related to fishing activity in NCMPAs, a similar structure is adopted. The activities are assessed through the fisheries screening stage (Part A), the fisheries assessment (Part B), and the in combination (cumulative effect) assessment (Part C) so as to consider whether the fishing activity would or might hinder the conservation objectives. In that case, proposed fisheries management measures will be considered.