Fisheries Management Measures within Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - Site Proposal Document

3. Engagement

This section details the engagement processes that have been undertaken in developing these proposals, including discussions with EU member states, Advisory Councils (prior to EU Exit) and national stakeholders. The public and stakeholder engagement process to date is summarised in Figure 2.

3.1 Workshops

Stakeholder workshops were held in June 2013, April 2014 and March 2015 to discuss potential fisheries management measures for each offshore SAC and MPA sites. These workshops were attended by fishing industry representatives, environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (eNGOs) and marine scientists. Meeting notes from these workshops are available online.

Following updates in evidence (as detailed in Section 2.2), the measures for sites requiring changes were put forward to the stakeholders in January to June 2022. Meeting notes are available online.

The EU Cod Recovery Plan measures which restricted mobile gear from 2003 – 2019 the West Shetland Shelf MPA were lifted in 2019, subsequently further measures were required. These were developed with SNCBs and stakeholders. Meeting minutes for this workshop are available online.

A further workshop was held in December 2022 to share the draft impact assessments undertaken on the policy with stakeholders and provide the opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback on these. The minutes from this workshop are available online.

The proposals for each site take into account views expressed at each workshop and aim to balance protection of the marine ecosystem against socio-economic fishing interests.

3.2 Co-ordination and consultation with EU member states

All relevant member states were sent a copy of the proposals during the initial consultation period (21 September to 30 November 2016). They were given the opportunity to provide written comment during that 12-week period. They were also given the opportunity to participate in a workshop in Edinburgh on 20 October 2016. All correspondence and workshop notes have been published online.

3.3 Involvement of the North Sea Advisory Council

Members of the North Sea Advisory Council (NSAC) participated in the workshops where the measures were initially designed. A presentation of the developing measures was made to the NSAC in January 2016. The North Sea Advisory Council sent a copy of the proposals during the initial consultation period (21 September to 30 November 2016). They were given the opportunity to provide written comment during that 12-week period, and some individual members took the opportunity to do so. They were also given the opportunity to participate in a workshop in Edinburgh on 20 October 2016. All correspondence and workshop notes have been published on the Scottish Government website. A further presentation of the revised proposals was made to the marine ecosystems working group of the NSAC in February 2017.

3.4 Involvement of the North Western Waters Advisory Council

Members of the North Western Waters Advisory Council (NWWAC) participated in the workshops where the measures were initially designed. Furthermore a presentation of the developing measures was made to the NWWAC in February 2016. The NWWAC was sent a copy of the proposals during the initial consultation period (21 September to 30 November 2016). They were given the opportunity to provide written comment during that 12 week period, and some individual members took the opportunity to do so. They were also given the opportunity to participate in a workshop in Edinburgh on 27 October 2016. All correspondence and workshop notes have been published on the Scottish Government website. A further presentation of the revised proposals was made to the West of Scotland focus group of the NWWAC in March 2017.

3.5 Engagement with the European Union

The notification of any changes to fisheries management measures and the public consultation will be sent to the EU through the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement process. Members are invited to provide comment through the 8-week public consultation.