Public Consultation on Fisheries Management Measures within Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

1. Introduction

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. Scottish Ministers intend to implement the relevant fisheries management measures following the conclusion of this consultation process.

This consultation will consist of two parts:

• Part 1: Consultation of proposed fisheries management measures
• Part 2: Consultation of amendment to West of Scotland MPA boundary

Under Part 1, this consultation is seeking views and comments on proposed fisheries management measures for 20 MPAs which occur wholly or partly in the Scottish offshore region. Views and comments are sought on the key draft documents which provide the rationale for the proposed management measures, as well as assessments of the potential impacts and benefits of these measures.

Throughout this consultation and the associated documents we will refer sites designated under section 116 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 as Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (NCMPAs). The term MPA is used to collectively refer to these NCMPAs and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC).

Under Part 2, this consultation is also seeking views and comments on the proposed amendment to the West of Scotland NCMPA boundary. This is proposed to resolve an issue with the existing site boundary.