Polygon

Marine Scotland commissioned SNH to identify locations within inshore waters (6NM limit) where there is a need to consider additional management for bottom contacting mobile fishing gears to ensure there is no significant impact on the national status of 11 PMFs*. A consultation was launched in July 2018 seeking views on the data and evidence sources; the proposed management approach; and reasonable alternatives.
The following data has been made available: point data for 10 PMF species and their management status (native oysters are excluded for sensitivity reasons); polygon extents of "areas for management consideration" and "knowledge gaps"; polygon extents of estimated fishing footprint of bottom trawl and scallop dredge for period 2009-2016; illustrative management areas for PMFs outside of the MPA network.
*The PMFs encompassed by the review are Blue mussel beds, Cold water coral reefs, Fan mussel aggregations, Flame shell beds, Horse mussel beds, Maerl beds, Maerl or coarse shell gravel with burrowing sea cucumbers, Native oysters, Northern sea fan and sponge communities, Seagrass beds, Serpulid aggregations

Fishing for razor clams (Ensis spp.) within the Scottish zone is prohibited. For a trial period, Marine Scotland will authorise (under Article 43 of EC Regulation No. 850/1998 and article 4(2) of Scottish SI 2017 No. 419) electrofishing for razor clams (Ensis spp.) in certain areas around Scotland for scientific research.

These maps are an update of the previous seal usage maps described in Jones et al. (2015). There are three key updates: (1) The telemetry data have been updated and now include data from 1991 - 2016 (inclusive) resulting in a marked increase (grey seals: 23%; harbour seals: 39%) in sample size for the UK; (2) The count data now include effort data and have been updated resulting in estimates of usage scaled to the estimated population size in 2015; (3) Haulout sites have been clustered together resulting in an increase in the proportion of sites for which there are associated telemetry data and thus increased accuracy of estimated distribution. The estimates reflect the expected mean number of seals in each 5 x 5 km cell at any given time. The estimates do not distinguish between the type of usage (e.g. foraging or travelling behaviour) and similar usage values could be a result of many individuals using a given area a small amount, or a small number of individuals that area intensively. Temporal variation in usage (seasonally or annually) is not represented. The confidence intervals reflect confidence in the estimate of mean usage in each cell, rather than showing the variability in usage. Thus, the confidence intervals are per cell and so do not represent uncertainty in distribution across the maps. Telemetry data were aggregated in order to provide the most complete spatio-temporal coverage around the UK, thus any differences in distribution by sex or age are not reflected. These maps only reflect estimates of usage resulting from seals that haul out in the UK and the Republic of Ireland; usage emanating from continental Europe is not considered.

These maps are an update of the previous seal usage maps described in Jones et al. (2015). There are three key updates: (1) The telemetry data have been updated and now include data from 1991 - 2016 (inclusive) resulting in a marked increase (grey seals: 23%; harbour seals: 39%) in sample size for the UK; (2) The count data now include effort data and have been updated resulting in estimates of usage scaled to the estimated population size in 2015; (3) Haulout sites have been clustered together resulting in an increase in the proportion of sites for which there are associated telemetry data and thus increased accuracy of estimated distribution. The estimates reflect the expected mean number of seals in each 5 x 5 km cell at any given time. The estimates do not distinguish between the type of usage (e.g. foraging or travelling behaviour) and similar usage values could be a result of many individuals using a given area a small amount, or a small number of individuals that area intensively. Temporal variation in usage (seasonally or annually) is not represented. The confidence intervals reflect confidence in the estimate of mean usage in each cell, rather than showing the variability in usage. Thus, the confidence intervals are per cell and so do not represent uncertainty in distribution across the maps. Telemetry data were aggregated in order to provide the most complete spatio-temporal coverage around the UK, thus any differences in distribution by sex or age are not reflected. These maps only reflect estimates of usage resulting from seals that haul out in the UK and the Republic of Ireland; usage emanating from continental Europe is not considered.