North East SMR

This section summarises the information from the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and intertidal and continental shelf habitats assessments from SMA2020. It also provides information from the relevant case studies relating to Priority Marine Features (PMFs), with a focus on habitats.  Further work is required to enable assessment at a regional scale for most species; this will be included in Scotland’s next marine assessment.

At a regional scale for MPAs the focus is on the number of new MPAs, MPAs with new spatial management measures, and MPAs in which spatial management measures are in discussion, as well as recognising monitoring that has been undertaken between 2012-2018.  For the marine habitats, the focus is on interpreting the relevant intertidal and continental shelf habitat assessments – biogenic habitats, predicted extent of physical disturbance to the sea floor (BH3) and intertidal seagrass beds.  For PMFs, a summary is provided of the changes in our understanding of the habitats of most relevance to the North East SMR, including changes in distribution and extent.

Marine Protected Areas

Progress in developing the Scottish MPA network

There are five MPAs in the North East SMR that contribute to the Scottish MPA network (see Table 1).  Some of these MPAs overlap completely or partially in terms of their spatial coverage and/or the features (habitats, species, etc.) they were set up to help conserve.  They are counted as separate MPAs because they have been established under different legislation which influences the way in which they are managed.  Also note that there are MPAs that straddle the boundaries between different SMRs.  Where this is the case, these MPAs have been counted as contributing to the MPA network in all of the SMRs/OMRs in which they are present.  This means that the total number of MPAs in Scotland cannot be calculated through combining the regional totals.  Please see the Marine Protected Area assessment which contains statistics for the Scottish MPA network as a whole.  

Table 1. Numbers of types of MPAs in the North East SMR that contribute to the Scottish MPA network, including the number of new MPAs introduced since 2012.

Note that in December 2020 there was another one MPA designated in this region in addition to those in the table above (i.e. Southern Trench) as well as  an extension to an existing SPA (now known as Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch).

The various MPAs are focused on the protection of marine birds and their supporting habitats.  The existing Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA supports internationally important numbers of wintering waterfowl and breeding populations of common, Sandwich and little terns. The recent extension of the SPA into the marine environment provides further protection for the foraging areas that Sandwich and little terns depend upon. Common redshank (and lapwing) are also now included as part of the waterbird assemblage within the existing SPA.  The Southern Trench MPA takes its name from the 58 km long, 9 km wide and 250 m deep trench running parallel to the Moray coast that was carved out by glaciers. Although the trench is located mainly within the Moray Firth SMR, the MPA extends into the northern part of the North East SMR.  Minke whale and an oceanic front are protected by this MPA.  The East Coast of Scotland is an Other Area Based Measure covering an area of 21,320 km² to help conserve black-legged kittiwakes through protecting their main prey species, sandeels. 

Progress in managing MPAs

The progress in implementing management for MPAs in the North East SMR is summarised in Table 2.  This includes information on where spatial management measures are in place and where they are under discussion.  It also includes information on the number of MPAs that have been monitored, whether by statutory bodies or through citizen science.

Table 2. Summary of progress in managing Marine Protected Areas in the North East SMR. Note that the spatial measures listed in the table are in addition to the protection provided as a result of consideration of activities/developments through licensing and consenting processes.

During this assessment period all of the MPAs have been monitored at least once by the statutory bodies, whether directly or through contracts, e.g. with the RSPB.  Monitoring has covered seabirds, and wintering waterbirds. 

Information on MPA boundaries can be viewed in Marine Scotland’s NMPi. To find out more about specific MPAs, please visit NatureScot’s SiteLINK.  Detailed reports on habitat monitoring are referenced in Further reading – seabed habitat monitoring reports.

Intertidal and continental shelf habitats

SMA2020 contains three relevant habitat assessments: intertidal seagrass beds, subtidal biogenic habitats, and predicted extent of physical disturbance to the seafloor.  Assessment of the status of subtidal biogenic habitats is based on temporal reductions in extent of six habitat types: seagrass beds, serpulid aggregations, flame shell beds, maerl beds, and horse and blue mussel beds.  None of these habitats have been recorded in the SMR and so no status assessment could be made.  There is also no known occurence of intertidal seagrass in the region.  Modelling work was carried out as part of the third assessment to predict the extent of physical disturbance to the seafloor more generally.

Predicted physical disturbance to the seafloor

To assess physical disturbance to seafloor habitats SMA2020 employed a modelling approach which generates a map of predicted relative disturbance levels from demersal fishing activity on a scale of 0 (zero) to 9 (severe).  The map was produced by the combination of information on the distribution of habitats, the sensitivity of the habitats (and species present to varying degrees) and the fishing pressure from demersal trawling, dredging and seine netting.  Fishing pressure information was derived from Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data from 2012 - 2016 and was categorised as either surface abrasion (disturbance of surface and upper layers of sediment) or sub-surface abrasion (disturbance to a depth of >3 cm).  The final predicted disturbance index utilises the greater of these two pressure values and for descriptive purposes has been categorised as no disturbance (0), low disturbance (1-4) and high disturbance (5-9).

It should be emphasised that this method does not measure disturbance to seabed habitats, but predicts relative levels of disturbance. These relative levels are dependent upon the accuracy of habitat data and sensitivity assessments.  Many of the habitat data are derived from modelling and there is a low level of confidence in its accuracy.  Geographical variation in the accuracy of the sensitivity information employed is likely to be great, being dependent upon the level and quality of information used locally.  A significant limitation of the method is that during the assessment period pressure data were only available for vessels >12 m, which has probably resulted in an underestimation of disturbance for the SMRs.

Predicted habitat disturbance by mobile demersal fishing for the North East SMR is average for SMRs in terms of the proportion of the seabed, with 51% high disturbance compared to an average of 50% for all SMRs (Figure 3).  Five per cent of the seabed is predicted to experience no disturbance (average of 12% for all SMRs).  There are three fairly distinct areas showing the highest predicted disturbance levels – from Fraserburgh to Buchan Ness, and areas north east of Aberdeen and south east of Stonehaven.  This very much reflects the distribution of coarse sediments, the sensitivity of the benthic community to surface abrasion, and the surface and subsurface abrasion pressure.

Figure 3  Predicted physical disturbance to the seafloor in the North East SMR and prohibition areas for all mobile demersal fishing.

Priority Marine Features and birds (non-PMF)

Overview of recorded PMFs and birds

The North East SMR supports a range of PMFs and breeding seabirds as well as wintering waterbirds (i.e. waders, estuarine waterfowl, seaduck and coastal water feeding birds) as detailed in Table 3. 

Table 3: Details of PMFs, seabirds, and wintering waterbirds found in the North East SMR

There are 37 PMFs and 31 marine birds recorded in this SMR, which is relatively low compared to other marine regions.  This SMR overlaps with an important herring spawning area and supports the Scottish east coast bottlenose dolphin population, with easily accessible popular watching sites, including just outside Aberdeen Harbour.  Sandbanks at the mouth of the Ythan provide an important haulout and pupping site for grey seals.  

Progress in understanding of intertidal and continental shelf habitats listed as PMFs

The temporal sequence of records of all PMF habitats is provided in Table 4, based on inclusion in the Marine Recorder (2021) and GeMS (2021) databases, as well as identified additional sources.  Associated commentary, however, is restricted to PMFs for which the information has the potential to inform regional marine planning.  For example, some PMFs are excluded on the basis that they are very widely distributed and for which the records represent a small proportion of their likely distribution, such as several of the kelp habitats.  The geographical distribution of records of selected PMFs is shown in Figure 4.

Prior to 2012 very little survey work was carried out within the region that would facilitate the identification of PMFs.  Most of the relevant surveys were carried out by Seasearch divers, who focused on recording kelp beds.  There are no records of intertidal mudflats or mussel beds in either the Marine Recorder or GeMS databases, although both habitats are known to be present in the Ythan Estuary and have been described by Trewin (1986), Trewin & Welsh (1976) and Anderson (1971), the latter author having mapped the mudflats.

Since 2012 there have been a small number of localised surveys by Marine Scotland, SNH and JNCC with the main goal of identifying habitats and species of conservation importance (reported in Moore, 2015; 2019), although they have not increased the knowledge of PMF habitats in the region.  

Table 4.  Temporal frequency of PMF habitat records within the North East SMR obtained from GeMS (2021), Marine Recorder (2021) and other sources.  The numbers of All records are given, as well as those from Citizen Science (CS) surveys alone.

Figure 4.  Temporal pattern of records of selected PMF habitats for the North East SMR.

Status and trend in grey and harbour seals

There are no major grey seal breeding sites in the North East SMR and as part of the East Scotland Seal Management Unit they are assessed as having few or no concerns.  In contrast while historically harbour seal numbers were never very high they have suffered a decline of around 95% since the early 2000s although since 2012 their numbers are little changed albeit at a reduced level and their status is assessed as ‘some concerns’.