Monday 17 January 2005

This is a consequence of inadequate planning and poor management by the relevant authorities. Most worryingly, habitats, the basis of marine life, are being destroyed, threatening the very integrity of the seas.

Thirteen of the sixteen "flagship" species and habitats investigated are in decline, including all of the habitats researched, from deep water muds and reefs to saltmarshes and maerl beds. Scotland's waters are home to a number of important habitats from the Maerl beds found extensively off Scottish islands and in sea loch narrows to the deep water corals of the Darwin Mounds, recently discovered and afforded emergency protection. This independently written report highlights the many demands made of our seas such as coastal development, fishing, aquaculture, oil and gas exploitation and the toll they take on the marine species and habitats studied. Five years ago WWF's first Marine Health Check warned of the potential threats to marine wildlife, such as sand and gravel extraction of pristine areas of the seabed. This new report shows that these threats have now manifested themselves, adding to longer-term threats such as pollution, impacts of fishing and invasion by non-native species.

Helen McLachlan, WWF Scotland's Marine Policy Officer, said: "This report clearly shows that the plight of Scotland's seas, along with the rest of the UK, is worse than feared. Our marine heritage is in a shameful state for a maritime nation. To most people, our marine environment is out of sight and out of mind, so its demise is hidden. However, it is not just our wildlife that are suffering from the current mis-management of the marine environment. Coastal towns and villages in many parts of Scotland that once thrived on the riches of the seas are now experiencing hardship and economic decline."

"A lack of strategic planning has led to conflicting marine activities and over exploitation in certain areas of our seas. For proper protection we need a long-term holistic approach that integrates development plans with clear conservation objectives. WWF welcomes Ross Finnie's recent commitment to a marine strategy for Scotland and looks forward to action being taken swiftly. For the sake of Scotland's economy, tourism and wildlife it is vital that we effectively conserve and manage Scotland's spectacular marine environment for all to enjoy."

Harbour porpoises are one of Scotland's most popular and common small cetaceans (collective name for whales, dolphins and porpoises) and are resident year round throughout Scottish waters. Although the species is one of the most heavily protected in UK waters, today's report suggests that their numbers are likely to have declined in recent years. This is partly due to the lack of action taken to address the major threat to this species, that of incidental capture in certain fishing gear, most notably bottom set gill nets. It is estimated that each year around 10,000 porpoises are caught and killed in the Celtic and North Seas.

Fish such as cod and Atlantic salmon are widely acknowledged to be in severe decline. However, the report highlights that even species such as the common skate are certainly no longer common. A recent survey to discover common skate numbers didn't catch a single fish.

Major factors contributing to the decline of Scotland's marine habitats are activities such as bottom trawling and dredging activities. Deep-water mud habitats found in sea lochs are heavily targeted for Norway lobsters, or scampi, that live there. Since 2000 small, specific areas such as Loch Torridon have received increased protection but other areas continue to be trawled. Maerl beds, found off the coast of Arran and other parts of Scottish coastal waters, are made up of free-living calcified red seaweed and provide a vital habitat for many marine species. Scallop dredging has been identified as the biggest threat to maerl beds in the Clyde, causing serious decline of both maerl, by breaking and burying the thin layer of living maerl, and the dependent species. Other types of mobile fishing gear are also likely to damage the living layer of maerl on top of the bed.

Although much is still not known about basking sharks, the world's second largest fish species, recent studies have shown that they gather at certain key points around the UK coast every year, including the west coast of Scotland – particularly in the Firth of Clyde and around the Hebrides. Basking sharks are vulnerable to a range of threats including ship strikes, disturbance by leisure vessels and the incidental capture in fishing gear. They were hunted in Scottish waters until the 1990's but protected throughout the UK in 1998. In 2003 they were listed on Appendix II on the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species adding to their protection globally.

Other species and habitats studied in the report include: leatherback turtles, pink sea fans, seagrass beds, native oysters and saltmarshes.

The UK's marine legislation has been largely developed on a sector by sector basis. This has led to a disjointed approach to management and planning of the marine environment – including the creation of only three national Marine Nature Reserves, none of them in Scottish waters. WWF is calling on the government to ensure that strategic spatial planning will be at the heart of the government's forthcoming Marine Bill.

McLachlan continued: "WWF believes that a UK Marine Act will help solve the crisis in our seas by establishing a long-term, holistic vision and by taking an ecosystem approach to the management of the marine environment. Fundamental to this should be a system of marine spatial planning, including duties of good stewardship placed upon regulatory regimes, but also supported by a comprehensive marine environmental information system. Because marine management in Scotland has both reserved and devolved elements WWF believes that the Executive needs to work with Westminster on the details of a UK Marine Act and align it with a Marine Act for Scotland which will address the specifically devolved issues."

WWF has also developed a Draft Marine Bill to showcase how spatial planning will aid the recovery of our declining sea life. It also sets out the key principles for achieving the sustainable use of marine resources and demonstrates the multiple benefits to all users of the marine environment, including the fishing industry and off-shore energy developers. One component of the Draft Marine Bill is the designation of a nationally representative network of Nationally Important Marine Sites.
The adoption of such an approach would ensure that the exploitation of marine resources is planned carefully and strategically, taking into account species and habitat conservation. Cumulative impacts would also be addressed and conflicts of interest between different users of the sea would be minimised.

Additional Information

The Marine Health Check 2005 was written by the Marine Life Information Network at the Marine Biological Association of the UK.

WWF Scotland supports the Marine campaign of Scottish Environment Link's Marine Task Force which is calling for fundamental reform of how we manage Scotland's seas. LINK is an umbrella group of 36 Scottish non-governmental environmental organisations.

Scotland's marine environment contains internationally important seabird, mammal and shark populations including: the largest gannet colony in the world at St Kilda; internationally important colonies of skuas and other seabirds; 36 per cent of the world's grey seals (95 per cent of the UK population); 24 per cent of UK common seals; the most northerly resident populations of bottlenose dolphin; 24 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans); the basking shark – the largest fish of the northern seas; and the critically endangered leatherback turtle.

It is estimated that 17 out of 21 fish stocks in Scottish waters are outside safe biological limits.