Achieving real protection and sustainable fisheries in Scotland

Scotland ecosystems are under threat – overfishing and insufficient levels of marine protection have severely depleted Scotland’s once-rich waters. Many fish populations have declined drastically, with destructive fishing practices prevalent in most marine protected areas and inshore waters, undermining conservation efforts and impacting Scotland’s coastal communities. 

Marine Protection  

Comprising 10 per cent of Europe’s coastline and accounting for 63 per cent of the UK’s territorial waters, Scotland’s marine environment is not only vast, but vital to UK progress on marine protection. The Scottish Marine Act 2010 committed to not just protect but enhance the health of Scotland’s seas. Despite this commitment, we have seen little progress towards effective protection. In 2024  the Scottish government published proposals to manage fishing activities in the country’s offshore marine protected areas that could protect an additional 67,000 sq km of seabed from bottom-trawling, In Scottish inshore waters more specifically, only three per cent is protected from bottom trawling and as little as eight per cent of the area covered by inshore MPAs have any form of protection.  

Sustainable fishing 

Crab and lobster stocks in most Scottish regions are being fished close to or above sustainable limits – according to the Scottish Government’s own assessments. A lack of effective fishery management  has contributed to declines in seabed health, species, fish and fishermen.   

Through a combination of top-down policy intervention, public campaigning, bottom-up community engagement and collaboration, Blue Marine aims to secure effective protection of Scotland’s Marine Protected Areas and protect Scotland’s most important marine habitats, species and ecosystems.  At the same we aim to safeguard sustainable small- scale fisheries and tackle inequitable distribution of marine resources.  

The Berwickshire MPA on the south-east coast of Scotland supports one of the country’s most productive crab and lobster fisheries, as well as providing some of Britain’s best diving and recreational fishing. Blue Marine works with low impact fishing communities and local stakeholders to deliver an ecosystem-based approach to MPA management that work for people, nature and climate.  

Relevant Reports 

• Developing ecological long-term monitoring of the Berwickshire Marine Reserve and surrounding area – view here.

• Shipwrecks act as de facto Marine Protected Areas in areas of heavy fishing pressure – view here.

• Assessing the Impact of a Closure to Bottom towed Fishing in the Three Nautical Mile Area of Scottish Waters – view here.

• Size-at-maturity of Brown Crab (Cancer pagurus) in Scottish waters based on gonadal and morphometric traits – view here.

• Catch per Unit Effort of Decapod Species, C. pagurus and H. gammarus, from a Voluntary Marine Reserve – view here.

• Using Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) to assess species biodiversity in Berwickshire’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and the surrounding area – view here.