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The Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters (PFOW) supports a diverse marine economy and a vast majority of the area is used for multiple activities. This means there is a potential for competition and conflict. The Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters was chosen to pilot the development of a marine spatial plan to support sustainable management of the area’s seas. It aims to balance the needs of local communities and marine economic activities whilst protecting the environment on which they depend. The pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan is being developed by a working group that includes Marine Scotland, Orkney Islands Council and Highland Council. This pilot Plan aims to put in place a planning policy framework in advance of statutory regional marine planning to support sustainable decision making on marine use and management. Through the process of producing the pilot Plan, there have been many lessons learned, which will be published shortly, to inform the preparation of future regional marine plans and the governance arrangements that could underpin Marine Planning Partnerships. It is also anticipated that the pilot Plan will establish a useful basis for the preparation of the two future regional marine plans for Orkney and the North Coast Scottish Marine Regions. This layer displays map 21 of the plan, which shows Ferry Routes in the PFOW.

The Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters (PFOW) supports a diverse marine economy and a vast majority of the area is used for multiple activities. This means there is a potential for competition and conflict. The Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters was chosen to pilot the development of a marine spatial plan to support sustainable management of the area’s seas. It aims to balance the needs of local communities and marine economic activities whilst protecting the environment on which they depend. The pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan is being developed by a working group that includes Marine Scotland, Orkney Islands Council and Highland Council. This pilot Plan aims to put in place a planning policy framework in advance of statutory regional marine planning to support sustainable decision making on marine use and management. Through the process of producing the pilot Plan, there have been many lessons learned, which will be published shortly, to inform the preparation of future regional marine plans and the governance arrangements that could underpin Marine Planning Partnerships. It is also anticipated that the pilot Plan will establish a useful basis for the preparation of the two future regional marine plans for Orkney and the North Coast Scottish Marine Regions. This layer displays map 16 of the plan, which shows Oil and Gas Hydrocarbon Pipleines in the PFOW.

This dataset contains the location of all tows carried out between 2010 and 2013 whilst gathering footage and images during TV tows. (TV tows collected from 2010 to 2013.)

The limit of Scotland, as defined in 126(1) of the Scotland Act 1998, is the Territorial Sea (12 mile limit). The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 details the co-ordinates of the boundaries on the east coast (between Scotland and England near Berwick) and the west coast (between Scotland and England in the Solway firth and Scotland and Northern Ireland in the North Channel.