Scotland unveils tough new marine protection plans

• Stringent conservation laws could tightly control fishing, salmon farms, dredging or new oil pipelines• Two-thirds of Britain's inshore waters would be affected

Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 April 2009 15.39 BST

Salmon farms, offshore windfarms and oil companies will face much tougher environmental tests in Scotland after ministers unveiled new marine protection laws which affect nearly two-thirds of Britain's inshore waters.
A new marine bill published by the Scottish government this morning will make protecting the environment a primary and legal requirement for all activities around Scotland's coastline.
The proposals include a network of "marine protected areas" where stringent conservation rules could prohibit or tightly control fishing, salmon farms, dredging or new oil pipelines within Scottish inshore waters, which cover 60% of UK waters out to 12 nautical miles.
Conservationists applauded the new measures, which include a new over-arching marine protection plan, and said they were more rigorous than similar proposals in the UK government's marine bill, now going through Westminster.
The English proposals allow ministers to water down restrictions in any marine protection area in favour of industries such as oil and gas, fishing or dredging.
In Scotland, where marine industries and tourism, excluding oil and gas, generate £2.2bn and support 50,000 jobs, ministers could only do so if there are at least two or more protected areas with identical habitats.
The bill also includes a new stricter licensing system for shooting seals, often illegally killed by fishermen and fish farmers who blame them for breaching nets.
The Guardian revealed last year that common seal numbers around the UK were plummeting, with some populations halved in recent years. It will now become illegal to kill seals without a licence, and the penalties for killing them without authority will rise.
However, the Scottish National Party government in Edinburgh has rejected setting up large marine national parks, the flagship proposal of the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government.
That plan was scrapped by the incoming SNP government, which initially focused its marine policies on the fishing industry, but naturalists hope the new bill could clear the way for national parks to be set up after the next election.
Lloyd Austin, head of conservation with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said the new marine planning policy could be a "world beater" if, as expected, these measures come into force this year and the new Marine Scotland agency is given the resources to enforce it.
The national marine plan rightly has ecosystem protection and recovery as one of its core objectives, he said. "Sustainable development has to become a reality, so marine activities can only be granted in the right place," he added.
Richard Lochhead, the Scottish environment secretary, said: "Today marks an exciting milestone. Our seas support tens of thousands of jobs, generate billions of pounds for our economy, put food on our tables and are set to play an increasing role in powering our nation through wind and wave power.
"We are introducing the framework to help deliver a new future for Scotland's seas. Our marine bill aims to maximise economic growth while ensuring future generations can still enjoy this world-class environment."
The differences in Scottish and English marine protection policy raises the prospect of clashes between the governments, senior naturalists warned, because control over the UK's waters is split between Westminster and the devolved parliament at Holyrood.
The Scottish bill will affect all Scottish inshore waters out to 12 nautical miles. With Scotland's array of islands off the west and northern coasts, this covers 60% of the UK's coastline and some of Britain's richest inshore fishing.
The UK government will retain legal control of all waters up to 200 nautical miles, but under a new agreement between the governments, Scottish ministers have the powers to oversee those waters around Scotland but using UK legislation.