Escalating Threat to the Future of Scotland’s Seas

By IAN JOHNSTON ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT

SCOTLAND’s marine life could be almost wiped out within 50 years unless tough action is taken to manage the way humans use the seas, a consortium of environmental organisations has warned.

They called for a new marine planning system designed to control developments such as oil rigs and offshore wind farms as well as fishing, fish farms and tourism along with protection for sensitive areas.

Scottish Environment LINK’s marine task force also said a new organisation should be created to oversee all activity at sea.

Without these moves, they warned that fish, sea birds and marine mammals would be increasingly at risk as the waters off Scotland become more and more crowded.

Jonny Hughes, the head of policy at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said: “Sixteen out of 21 Scottish fish stocks, including cod and Atlantic salmon, are currently being exploited beyond sustainable levels. Unless we get some kind of planning system in place to ensure recovery and sustainable use of all our marine life then, in combination with the effects of climate change, in 40 or 50 years’ time much of our important wildlife will have perished.”

A recent international review of marine fisheries found 90 per cent of the population of the world’s large predatory fish, including tuna, swordfish, cod, halibut, and flounder, had disappeared in the past 50 years.

But fishing is not the only form of human activity threatening sea life. Salmon farms have expanded 13-fold since 1986.

There is concern that in the wrong place such aquaculture can cause damage to other marine life because of the use of chemicals and nutrients.

Coastal development is another serious issue. It has halved the size of the natural inter-tidal area in the Firth of Forth, which was about 18 square miles in the 17th century, while today it is less than nine square miles.

These areas are particularly important for mudflats and seagrass beds, which provide vital feeding areas for migrating birds and young fish. A lack of food has been blamed for serious problems in seabird colonies.

In 1994, more than 75,000 seabirds, including guillemots, shags, kittiwakes and puffins, washed ashore after starving to death and there have been similar, if less severe, starvation events since then. In 2005, the British Trust for Ornithology estimated 1,000 shags died in just two months out of a Scottish population of 21,000 breeding pairs, which makes up 40 per cent of the entire global population of the bird.

While for some animals there is not enough to eat, for others the problem is that what looks like food is actually a deadly trap left by careless humans. Highly endangered leatherback turtles are prone to eating plastic bags and other litter, which can choke them.

In 2004, a specialised boat, the St Mungo, began clearing litter from Firth of Clyde and removed 300 tonnes of litter and debris in its first year.

A report by Scottish Natural Heritage also found there was “some evidence” that harbour porpoises and bottle-nose dolphins in Scottish waters were in decline.

Part of the problem in attempting to address the concerns about marine biodiversity is that too little is known about which species are at most risk, however key members of the marine task force are now convinced that urgent action is needed.

Ahead of this year’s elections for the Scottish Parliament, they are all calling for political parties to back a new Scottish Marine Bill, whose provisions would include:

* A planning system that would properly manage human activity at sea;

* A single marine management organisation;

* More protected areas such as marine national parks.

Mr Hughes said that protecting marine life was vital to the fishing industry and coastal communities dependant on the sea for their income.

“Properly introduced, such a system would provide a win-win scenario for both the environment and the economy,” he said.

Calum Duncan, the convener of the marine task force and Scottish conservation manager of the Marine Conservation Society, said an example of the current lack of controls was the plan to allow the transfer of oil from ship to ship in the Firth of Forth, an area rich in seabirds and other forms of marine life, that would be at risk if there was a spill. “There are no means to determine whether it should happen or not. It’s kind of a fait accompli. There’s no requirement on any statutory body to consult on what happens,” he said.

“Basically, at sea there’s no planning system. What you have is a whole range of activities managed by different [government] departments that historically haven’t spoken to each other.

“There are a lot of activities happening at sea and the seas are becoming more and more congested with the expansion of fish farming, renewable energy moving into the marine area, fisheries already there, wildlife watching, increasing recreation and so on.”

Wildlife tourists want to watch basking sharks, but poorly managed boat tours can actually cause the “magnificent gentle giants” of the sea distress, and scare them away from their breeding grounds. Under current legislation, basking sharks are protected out to 12 nautical miles – the limit of Scottish control of marine conservation – but not beyond that, even though UK waters extend out to 200 nautical miles.

Mike Park, the chairman of the White Fish Producers Association, backed the call for a system of marine spatial planning, known as MSP, and a marine management organisation.

MARINE PLANNING

THOSE who have battled with the town and country planning system on land may be dismayed at the news anything like it is to be extended to the sea.

It will have a similar main aim – to enable human activity to take place in a controlled way – and the process will be “broadly the same”, according to Graham U’Ren, the director of the Royal Town Planning Institute Scotland and a member of a Scottish Executive advisory committee on the subject.

However, those fearing that lobster fishermen, for example, will have to apply for planning permission every time they want to put out new pots needn’t worry.

“Marine spatial planning” (MSP) will involve drawing areas where certain things are allowed and not allowed. But the goal is to avoid conflict between different human activities at sea.

Shipping lanes could be protected from developments like wave power energy schemes and the impact of any marine development on wildlife would to be taken into account. The Westminster government is expected to publish a Marine Bill white paper this year.

MARINE MANAGEMENT

CONTROL of the seas is currently divided between a range of government departments.

This is seen as a recipe for chaos by both environmentalists and fishing industry leaders.

For example, fishing out to the 200 nautical-mile limit of UK waters is controlled by the Scottish Executive.

However it is only responsible for marine conservation – a closely linked issue – up to 12 nautical miles.

Waters beyond that come under the sway of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affair.

Meanwhile the UK Department for Trade and Industry is responsible for issuing licences to the oil and gas industry.

The creation of a single marine management organisation, or MMO, would mean amalgamating various government departments which have an interest in the marine environment into a single body.

Supporters of the idea believe this would significantly improve management of our seas, leading to benefits for everyone, and the environment as a whole.

NATIONAL PARKS

HUMAN activity at sea has reached such an extent that environmentalists want a network of safe havens to be set up around Scotland’s coast.

They say marine national parks and other forms of protected status could be used to safeguard rare or threatened species.

The first part of the process would be to establish which areas are the most important and what kind of protection is needed. This could include restrictions on types of fishing, industrial and recreational activity – from relatively mild measures to a complete ban. The first Coastal and Marine National Park in the UK is expected to be in Scotland with several possible sites already identified, including the Argyll coast and islands, Lochaber and Skye, the Western Isles and Shetland.

However “sustainable fishing” would be allowed, along with controlled aquaculture, recreation and tourism.

Fish caught in a national park could actually be marketed as coming from a sustainable environment, enabling fishermen operating in the area to get a higher price for their catch.

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