Overview of NatureScot advice to support the development of management measures for Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features
Since the designation of Marine Protected Areas, NatureScot has provided various pieces of advice to Scottish Government to support the development of management measures for fishing activity. Similarly, we have provided advice on the development of the Priority Marine Features (PMF) management areas. This page contains links to that advice.
For our main advice on MPAs see our Conservation and Management Advice documents which can be found under Marine Protected Areas (see link below). Our main advice for PMFs is the PMF advice documents which you can find under the Priority Marine Features link. We have also included below advice which is supplementary to these on specific sites, features or types of features.
The advice is organised so that if you are interested in a particular topic (e.g. marine birds) it will be easy to find. Or, if you want to access it all, see the Chronological list of advice. Below our advice you'll find links to tools and other relevant sources of information and evidence.
Chronological list of advice
A history of our advice relating to the proposed management measures for fishing activity.
Priority Marine Features
Our advice on each of the 11 most sensitive PMFs to dredging and trawling fishing activity.
Marine Protected Areas
Our site specific advice for all of the MPAs included in the consultation on management measures for fishing activity.
Marine Directorate portal (not currently live)
You will be able to share your views on the proposals here when the consultation begins.
NatureScot supporting tools and evidence
Explore the additional tools and evidence below that support NatureScot’s advice.
Fisheries Guidance Notes
Coming soon. Our Fisheries Guidance Notes provide summaries of evidence on the interaction between fishing gears and specific habitats and species.
Feature Activity Sensitivity Tool
FeAST allows you to investigate the sensitivity of marine features to pressures arising from human activities in Scotland's seas.
Sitelink
Sitelink provides data and information on protected areas across Scotland, including our advice on MPA management and Conservation Objectives.
MPA and PMF Management Interactive Tool
Our interactive web tool helps you to explore the proposed management measures for Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features.
Last updated:
