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

4. Policy Impact Assessments

The socio-economic and environmental impacts have been assessed for each proposed management option for individual sites, and also for the full suite of sites. These estimated impacts are fully detailed in the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment.

The Socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) aims to identify and assess the potential economic and social effects of a proposed development or policy on the lives and circumstances of people, their families and their communities. The assessment investigates the potential cumulative economic benefits and costs, and associated potential social impacts, of implementing the proposed management measures at each individual MPA/SAC. It also considers the potential economic benefits and costs, and associated potential social impacts of implementing the suite of measures overall.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) provides a high-level assessment of the potential environmental effects that are likely to result from the implementation of the proposed management measures under both options at each site. The assessment has assessed the potential individual and collective or ‘cumulative’ beneficial and adverse effects of the proposals on a number of SEA topics, specifically marine biodiversity, flora and fauna; soil; water; and climatic factors.

The findings from both the SEA and the SEIA have been combined to provide an overall Sustainability Appraisal (SA) of the proposed fisheries management measures for offshore MPAs, to accompany the consultation document. The inputs from the SEA constitute the ‘Environment’ sections of the SA. The inputs from the SEIA inform the ‘Economy and Other Marine Users’ and ‘People, Population and Health’ sections of the SA.

Further policy impact assessments have been undertaken including Partial Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) and Partial Island Community Impact Assessment (ICIA). The partial BRIAs estimate the costs, benefits and risks of proposed legislation, that may impact the public, private or third sector. The partial ICIA considers the potential impacts on island communities and whether those impacts significantly differ from those on the mainland.

The Draft Fisheries Assessments explore the potential impacts of commercial fishing activity, and in-combination (cumulative) effects with other plans and projects, against the conservation objectives for the site.

We will ask for feedback on these assessments during this consultation and will review the assessments based on the feedback received before finalisation. These impact assessments are a key part of the policy development process.