Historic Scotland has launched public consultations on:

a strategy for the protection, management and promotion of marine heritage 2011-16, and
guidelines for the selection, designation and management of Historic Marine Protected Areas (Historic MPAs).

The guidelines set out how they will apply the provisions in the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 relating to Historic Marine Protected Areas; the strategy sets out Historic Scotland’s priorities for the period 2011-16. 
They would greatly appreciate it if you could take some time to provide your thoughts on these documents.
The consultations are available to …

Finning consists of cutting off and keeping the fins of sharks while throwing the shark body overboard to die.
The European Commission wants to eradicate the practice of shark finning completely from EU waters and fishing vessels from the EU wherever they operate in the world.
The practice has been banned by EU legislation since 2003, but the current system makes control difficult and compliance hard to ensure. To strengthen the existing legislation, the Commission asks the scientific community, the industry, Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), NGOs and all interested …

A Background Document on the Spurdog  Squalus acanthias  has been developed by OSPAR following the inclusion of this species on the OSPAR List of threatened and/or declining species and habitats (OSPAR Agreement 2008-6).
The document provides a compilation of the reviews and assessments that have been prepared concerning this species since the agreement to include it in the OSPAR List in 2008.
The original evaluation used to justify the inclusion of S.acanthias in the OSPAR List is followed by an assessment of the most recent information on its status (distribution, …

Stuart McMillan MSP, (SNP) recently spoke in the Scottish Parliament chamber to promote the upcoming World Oceans Day which raises awareness of the oceans of the world and encourages their sustainable development and protection.
World Oceans day was formally established last year by UN to occur on June 8th of every year. The 2nd Annual World Oceans Day is to be celebrated next week.
In the following Members’ debate, Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): congratulated Stuart McMillan on securing the debate and as part of her contribution to it went on to highlight …

With the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 now in place, the Scottish Government is now in the business of implementing the act.
The Government’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) Guidelines and Marine Nature Conservation Strategy are out for consultation at the moment, both with a deadline of June 4th.
SSACN will of course be responding to these consultations as, no doubt, will representatives from other recreational and conservation groups and obviously many representatives from the commercial sectors.
The consultation documents may be found at  MPA Guidelines and Marine Nature Conservation Strategy.
This once-in-a-generation Act needs to …

The following question was raised in the Scottish Parliament by John Scott (Ayr) (Con) :
To ask the Scottish Executive how many permits it has issued in each of the last five years to allow the finning of sharks in Scottish waters.
Answered by Richard Lochhead: Permits have been issued, as follows, to Scottish registered fishing vessels which are part of the Anglo-Spanish fleet:

Speaking during today’s debate in the Scottish Parliament on sea fisheries, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment John Scott MSP said:
“I would like to say a word about another under threat species – the Spurdog. The Cabinet Secretary will know that the European Commission are proposing a Total Allowable Catch of zero for this species. While well intentioned, the effect of such a move would be to guarantee the discarding of any Spurdog caught as by-catch – not something I would welcome.
“The fact remains however …

Commercial fishermen within the NWWRAC (North Western Waters Regional Advisory Committee) wrote to the EU to try and have the 5% spurdog bycatch rules changed allowing them to catch more of the species.
Fortunately the Commission has declined this request with a distinct change of language which should be welcomed as it now appears they are taking on board others views by stating “I understand that there is a strong divergence of opinion within the RAC between the catching sector and the other sectors.”
This understanding looks good for further shark …