Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Volume 5 Number 4: Prioritisation of monitoring and research for diadromous fish in the context of Marine/Offshore Renewables

1. Introduction

Marine Scotland Science ( MSS) prepared a scoping report to identify the strategic research and monitoring requirements for the diadromous fishes including Atlantic salmon, sea trout and European eel in the context of marine renewable energy (Malcolm et al, 2013). Following publication of this report, Marine Scotland initiated a process to develop a national strategy to coordinate and align research and monitoring in this area.

Stakeholder meetings were organised with wild fish interests and representatives of the wind, wave and tidal sectors in July and August 2013 respectively. The overall aim of the stakeholder meetings was;

To strengthen communications and promote a shared understanding of the priorities for research and monitoring in relation to the species Atlantic salmon, Sea trout and European eels and marine/offshore renewable energy between Marine Scotland Science and relevant stakeholders.

The specific objectives were:

• For MSS to provide an overview of potential research and monitoring opportunities in relation to diadromous fish as identified by Malcolm et al. (2013).
• For MSS to provide an overview of the proposed process for stakeholder engagement in order to prioritize research and monitoring for scoping.
• For Stakeholders to provide feedback on the scoping document and identify omissions.
• To discuss local and national monitoring requirements and opportunities for integration across scales.
• For stakeholders to prioritise areas of research and monitoring to be taken forward for project scoping.

This report summarises the process undertaken to establish inclusive stakeholder groups for consultation and the outcomes of the workshops. Next stages are also identified for the development of the NRMSD.