1. Natural capital, ecosystem services and the Blue Economy
  2. Healthy and biologically diverse seas

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

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

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

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

Juvenile queen scallops show strong preference for inhabiting live maerl compared to impacted dead maerl or gravel.

Kamenos, Moore & Hall-Spencer (2004)

A tidal formed maerl bed in Loch Sween © Nick Kamenos
Case study: Blue carbon in Scottish maerl beds

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

Assessments

Literature

Chapman, R.Leonard, 2013. Algae: the world’s most important “plants”—an introduction. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 18(1), pp.5 - 12. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11027-010-9255-9.

To view full details of the literature source, click the title. Where literature has a DOI, you can click on the DOI link to be taken directly to the source material.