Healthy and biologically diverse seas
Headline facts
Scotland’s beaches and salt marshes protect £13 billion of coastal buildings and infrastructure (compared to £5 billion protected by engineered sea walls).
Hansom, Fitton & Rennie (2017)
![Blue economy sector hexagon coastal defense](https://marine.gov.scot/sma/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/coastal_defence_yellow_border_v2.png?itok=wVjPs4sQ)
Marine plants and algae produce the oxygen for every other breath taken by all living organisms.
Chapman (2013)
![Blue economy sector hexagon production of oxygen](https://marine.gov.scot/sma/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/20_10_29_prod_of_oxygen_icon_yellow_border.png?itok=9sbVqIUC)
Marine fish capture in Scottish waters was 486,000 tonnes in 2018 an increase from 330,000 tonnes in 2008.
Office for National Statistics (2019)
![Blue economy sector hexagon sea fisheries](https://marine.gov.scot/sma/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/blu_ecomony_sector_icons_hexagons-13.png?itok=q9XV7Dk7)
Mussel farming relies entirely on natural food supplies (plankton). A blue mussel can filter 3 litres of seawater per hour.
Smaal & Van Stralen (1992)
![Blue economy sector hexagon aquaculture](https://marine.gov.scot/sma/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/blu_ecomony_sector_icons_hexagons-04.png?itok=E8LZ_4X4)
Juvenile queen scallops show strong preference for inhabiting live maerl compared to impacted dead maerl or gravel.
Kamenos, Moore & Hall-Spencer (2004)
Scottish tourism as a whole was estimated to be worth £4.1 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2017. Marine tourism is estimated to account for around 14% of all Scottish tourism.
Scottish Government (2019)
![Blue economy sector hexagon coastal tourism](https://marine.gov.scot/sma/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/blu_ecomony_sector_icons_hexagons-11.png?itok=L_3ez8L2)