The Marine Scotland Directorate ( gd, Cùisean Mara na h-Alba) is a directorate of the Scottish Government. Marine Scotland manages Scotland's seas and freshwater fisheries along with delivery partners

NatureScot NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and ...

and the

Scottish Environment Protection Agency The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; gd, Buidheann Dìon Àrainneachd na h-Alba) is Scotland's environmental regulator and national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management authority. Marine Scotland provides management and research of

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

responsibilities such as: * Licensing of marine activities. * Sea fisheries. *

Salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

and

recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing fo ...

. *

Marine renewable energy Marine energy or marine power (also sometimes referred to as ocean energy, ocean power, or marine and hydrokinetic energy) refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in ...

. *

Marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

. *

Marine spatial planning Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a process that brings together multiple users of the ocean – including energy, industry, government, conservation and recreation – to make informed and coordinated decisions about how to use marine resources sus ...

. *

Scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...

including sea and freshwater fisheries. *

Enforcement Enforcement is the proper execution of the process of ensuring compliance with laws, regulations, rules, standards, and social norms. Governments attempt to effectuate successful implementation of policies by enforcing laws and regulations. En ...

of marine and fisheries law.

History

The Marine Scotland directorate was established on 1 April 2009, merging two

executive agencies An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nor ...

(

Fisheries Research Services Fisheries Research Services (FRS) was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. FRS was responsible for scientific and technical research into the marine and freshwater fisheries and aquaculture, and the protection of the aquatic en ...

and the

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. On 1 April 2009, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and Fisheries Research Services were merged with the Scottish Government Marine Direc ...

) and the Scottish Government marine and fishery policy divisions.

Staff, assets and budget

Marine Scotland has around 700 staff, covering a range of professions including scientists, sea fishery officers, sailors, policy, administrative and professional/ technical staff.

Locations and Assets

Ensign of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

Minna (ship, 2003) in Greenock 2016-10-02 bow

Staff are located across Scotland including : * Major Scottish Government offices, for example Victoria Quay and Atlantic Quay. * The marine laboratory in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. * Freshwater laboratories at Faskally and Montrose. * Fishery offices at

Eyemouth Eyemouth ( sco, Heymooth) is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name comes from its location at the ...

, Anstruther,

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about north of Aberdeen, and north of ...

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the t ...

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

, Lerwick,

Scrabster Scrabster ( sco, Scraibster, gd, Sgrabastair/Sgrabstal) is a small settlement on Thurso Bay in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. It is some from Thurso, from Wick, from Inverness and 271.7 miles (437.2 km) from Edinburgh. Scr ...

Kinlochbervie Kinlochbervie ( gd, Ceann Loch Biorbhaidh, ) is a scattered harbour village in the north west of Sutherland, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is the most northerly port on the west coast of Scotland. Geography Sandwood Bay, a scenic beach ...

Lochinver Lochinver (''Loch an Inbhir'' in Gaelic) is a village that is located at the head of the sea loch Loch Inver, on the coast in the Assynt district of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. A few miles northeast is Loch Assynt which is the source of ...

Ullapool Ullapool (; gd, Ulapul ) is a village and port located in Northern Scotland. Ullapool has a population of around 1,500 inhabitants. It is located around northwest of Inverness in Ross and Cromarty, Scottish Highlands. Despite its modest size, ...

, Stornoway,

Portree Portree (; gd, Port Rìgh, ) is the largest town on, and capital of, the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is the location for the only secondary school o ...

Mallaig Mallaig (; gd, Malaig derived from Old Norse , meaning sand dune bay) is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line (Fort Willi ...

, Oban, Campbeltown, and

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

Marine Research Vessels

Marine Scotland operates two main research vessels which are fitted with a wide range of deployment and recovery facilities for fishing gear and equipment, scientific and environmental sensors, and data gathering systems: *MRV ''Scotia'' (launched: 1998, length: 68.6 meters, service speed: 13 knots) * (launched: 2008, length: 27 meters, cruise speed: 8 knots) Additionally, MRV ''Temora'' (launched: 1992, length: 10 meters, max speed: 10 knots) is used for sampling as part of the Long Term Climate Change Monitoring Programme.

Marine Protection Vessels

Marine Scotland operates three Marine Protection Vessels (MPVs): *MPV ''Minna'' (launched: 2003, length: 42 meters, top speed: 14 knots, tonnage: 718 g.r.t.) *MPV ''Jura'' (launched: 2005, length: 84 meters, top speed: 18 knots, tonnage: 2,181 g.r.t.) *MPV ''Hirta'' (launched: 2008, length: 84 meters, top speed: 18 knots, tonnage: 2,181 g.r.t.)

Surveillance Aircraft

Marine Scotland owns two Reims Cessna F-406 Caravan II aircraft for aerial surveillance, operated by Airtask.

UK Fisheries Monitoring Centre

Marine Scotland operates the UK Fisheries Monitoring Centre (UKFMC), on behalf of the four UK fisheries administrations. The UKFMC acts as the UK single-point-of-contact for manual reporting of ERS, VMS and other EU/national fisheries schemes.

Divisions

Director's Office

Annabel Turpie is the Director of Marine Scotland. The Director's Office provides corporate services such as

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of managemen ...

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

information quality Information quality (IQ) is the quality of the content of information systems. It is often pragmatically defined as: "The fitness for use of the information provided". IQ frameworks also provides a tangible approach to assess and measure DQ/IQ in a ...

, data management, statistics,

socio-economic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...

and geographic analysis.

Compliance (MSC)

The Compliance division monitors and enforces marine and sea fishing laws in Scottish waters. It reports as appropriate to the Scottish prosecuting authorities and provides

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...

on fishing activity in the seas around Scotland.

Science (MSS)

Marine Scotland's Science division undertakes research and provides scientific and technical advice to the Scottish Government (and the UK and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

authorities) on a number of marine and fisheries issues including aquaculture and fish health,

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of ...

eries, sea fisheries and the

marine ecosystem Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the sur ...

in Scotland's seas.

Marine Planning & Policy (MPP)

Marine Scotland's Planning & Policy division covers three main policy areas and the Licensing Operations Team (LOT).

Marine Spatial Planning

Marine Scotland are involved in marine spatial planning at both at a national and regional level. Scotland'
Marine Atlas
was published in 2011 as a baseline assessment, with Scotland's firs
National Marine Plan
published in 2015. The information from the Atlas and National Marine Plan is available throug
Marine Scotland Maps
an
Marine Scotland Information
portals. These portals form part of the Marine Scotland Open Data Network which contributes towards Marine Scotland's

INSPIRE The following is a thematic list of European Union directives: For a date based list, see the :European Union directives by number Numbering From 1 January 1992 to 31 December 2014, numbers assigned by the General Secretariat of the Council ...

and open data obligations

Offshore Marine Renewables

The Scottish Government is developing plans for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy in Scottish waters. Marine Scotland will explore how offshore wind, wave and tidal energy can contribute to meeting Scotland's target of generating the equivalent of 100% of electricity demand from renewable sources and also seek to maximise the contribution of these technologies to achieving a

low-carbon economy A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...

Marine Conservation

Marine Scotland follows a strategy for Marine Nature Conservation in Scotland's Seas based on the three pillars of species conservation, site protection, and wider seas policies and measures. Work continues on a

Marine Protected Area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conse ...

network with 30 nature conservation MPAs designated in 2014.

Licensing Operations Team (LOT)

The Marine Scotland Licensing Operations team is a central point-of-contact for activities such as depositing or removing objects or substances from the seabed; construction or alteration works, dredging; depositing or using explosives.

Aquaculture and Recreational Fisheries (ARF)

The ARF division handles policy areas covering Aquaculture, Salmon & Recreational Fisheries, Fishery Grants, Post-EU Referendum (Brexit) and the Crown Estate in Scotland.

Sea Fisheries

The Sea Fisheries division handles policy areas covering Access to Sea Fisheries, EU Quota Negotiations and Discards, Inshore Fisheries and Coastal Communities, and International Fisheries and Environmental Interactions.

References

External links

Marine ScotlandThe fleet of Marine Protection Vessels of Marine ScotlandMarine and Fisheries in ScotlandMarine (Scotland) Act 2010Marine Scotland Strategic Plan 2013-2016

Marine Scotland Vision
{{Authority control Directorates of the Scottish Government 2009 establishments in Scotland Scottish coast Conservation in Scotland Environment of Scotland Fishing in Scotland Government research Law enforcement agencies of Scotland