HPMAs scrapped

The Scottish Government is dropping its controversial plan to ban fishing in 10 per cent of Scotland's waters, in zones called Highly Protected Marine Areas.

 

The Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan confirmed today (June 29) that "plans to deliver increased protection for Scotland’s marine environment will be revised, with a new pathway and timetable".

 

Addressing the Scottish Parliament, the Cabinet Secretary said proposals consulted on to implement Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) across 10 per cent of Scotland’s seas by 2026 will not be progressed.

 

"Instead, the Scottish Government will take more time to work with industry, communities and conservation organisations to enhance marine protection, while supporting any groups that wish to pursue community-led marine protection in their local area on a quicker timescale, such as those initiatives in Lamlash Bay on Arran and St Abbs and Eyemouth in Berwickshire" a Scottish Government spoksperson said.

 

It follows a public consultation which ran earlier in the year on the principles of HPMA policy in Scotland, and attracted  widespread opposition along the West Coast.

 

In March, Tiree Community Council and the Tiree Community Development Trust raised grave concerns in response to the Scottish Government’s Highly Protected Marine Areas consultation saying: “It is not an exaggeration to say that the designation of the waters used by the Tiree fishing fleet – from Skerryvore to the Cairns of Coll – as a Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMA) poses an existential threat to the Tiree community.”

 

Local fisherman Neil MacPhail said: “My boat alone puts food on the table for eleven people. One boat’s worth of economic impact is huge in a community such as Tiree. It’s the only industry in the island which has genuinely bucked the depopulation trend. If this landed on top of us, we would be wiped out overnight with one stroke of the pen on a chart.”

 

Hebridean trad band Skipinnish wrote a protest song labelling the HPMA proposals as "modern day Clearances". The song is written from the perspective of fisherman Donald Francis (DF) MacNeil from the Isle of Vatersay.

 

Expressed his opposition, DF MacNeil said: "For the sake of my children and those who will come after us, I will do everything I can to stand against these ill-conceived and badly planned proposals. HPMAs have only one objective – to devastate our rural, coastal communities and clear them of the indigenous people who have protected them for millennia. This cannot be allowed to happen.”

 

Speaking today, Ms McAllan said: “We are in the midst of a nature and climate crisis and we must be prepared to take action commensurate with the scale of that challenge.

 

“Failure to safeguard and improve the resilience of Scotland’s marine ecosystems to a changing climate risks the very basis on which our marine industries and coastal communities are built.

 

“We chose to consult as early and widely as possible on the principles of HPMAs, with no pre-determined sites. It has always been, and continues to be, this government’s plan to work cooperatively with communities to identify how and where to enhance marine protection in a way that minimises impact and maximises opportunity.

 

“Therefore, while we remain firmly committed to the outcome of enhanced marine protection, the proposal as consulted on will not be progressed.

 

“I will outline more on our next steps after the summer recess, but I hope that it is clear that I am determined to protect our oceans in a way that is fair, and to find a way forward that ensures our seas remain a source of prosperity for the nation, especially in our remote, coastal and island communities.”

 

In the statement to Parliament, the Cabinet Secretary also confirmed that an ongoing programme of work to implement fisheries management measures in existing MPAs where they are yet to be introduced, and to protect some of the most vulnerable Priority Marine Features outside of MPAs, will be taken forward as a priority.

 

A full response to the consultation and the next steps will be published after summer recess.

 

The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch SNP MSP Kate Forbes  also welcomed the decision to halt HPMAs, and urged island communities to continue to engage with future marine protection consultations.

 

Ms Forbes said: “This is a welcome change in tack by the Scottish Government. I am relieved that the Scottish Government has agreed to halt the proposal for Highly Protected Marine Areas as consulted on earlier this year.

 

“I said in March that I would ditch HPMAs if elected as leader, knowing how widespread opposition was amongst coastal communities. That was born of genuine fear for the future of rural communities, as fishing is a lifeline for many.

 

“I am grateful to the Cabinet Secretary who has listened to appeals from across Scotland and acted decisively. This announcement will come as an immense relief to those who. understood the risk to coastal communities from the very beginning.

 

“Of course, it is now critical that any new proposals for marine protected areas take into account communities’ views, fishermen’s lived experiences and the importance of a truly just transition. I have confidence in any new proposals that are shaped by fishermen.”

 

SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Alasdair Allan, also welcomed the announcement. Dr Allan said: “People up and down the Western Isles have been resoundingly clear in their rejection of the proposals in the HPMA consultation.

 

"While most islanders fully recognise the need to protect the seas that surround them, there was a clear consensus that the approach set out in the consultation was too blunt a tool to address such a complex issue.

 

“The original lack of clarity on where these areas might be designated further heightened fears across all coastal communities, meaning that all those dependent on the sea for their livelihoods were understandably extremely fearful for their futures.

 

“I am grateful to the Cabinet Secretary and the First Minister for listening closely to the concerns expressed, and for re-evaluating the Scottish Government’s approach. Communities now need to play an integral role in decisions around how best to conserve and sustain the marine environment, while ensuring island jobs and ways of life remain fully protected.”

 

Scottish Labour rural affairs spokesperson Rhoda Grant, an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: “Local fishers have been safeguarding our seas for generations – a Labour government would be working with them, not against them.

 

"The SNP/Green Government plans for HPMAs would have had a catastrophic impact on our rural and island communities, and it is right that they have signalled an end to this chaos.

 

“That does not excuse the fact that for months they opted to plough on with these destructive plans despite repeated calls from our coastal communities to consider their impact.

 

“The handling of HMPAs could not make the failure of the SNP-Green coalition to govern effectively any clearer.

 

“Scottish Labour would empower local communities to deliver management schemes in line with local needs so we can secure a sustainable future for Scottish coastal communities, fishing and for Scottish seas.

 

“We hope the Scottish Government will now go back to the drawing board, work collegiately with coastal communities on effecting plans to protect our seas.”

 

Scottish Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron said: “This decision is very overdue and will be of huge relief to people right across the Highlands and Islands.

 

“The plans should never have progressed as far as they did or for as long. They would have devastated businesses and opportunities in a number of our coastal communities. I’m glad the Scottish Government has finally taken heed of the anger this idea provoked.

 

"I and other Scottish Conservative colleagues have led calls for the SNP-Greens to u-turn on these despised proposals. The next time the SNP-Green coalition brings policies like this forward, it should do so with the blessing of the people and businesses they would so severely impact.”

 

Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MP Angus MacNeil expressed delight that the HPMA proposals will now be abandoned and not taken forward.

 

Mr MacNeil said: “This is a victory for common sense. I am delighted that we have seen off HPMAs in their current form. The consultation on 10 per cent of the waters being designed as HPMAs by 2026 has now been abandoned and it is a victory for those who have argued passionately, strongly, coherently, and wisely against the HPMAs.

 

“I hope that whatever is brought forward in the future is not as onerous or as dangerous as the HPMA proposal was. Obviously, this will not be the end of people trying to destroy aspects of the fishing industry and livelihoods in our coastal communities, but I don’t think ever again will such a big assault on the livelihoods of people in our coastal communities happen.

 

“We will have to remain vigilant that it doesn’t happen again, but today we can be glad and congratulate all those who raised their voices, and even composed songs  in this campaign. It goes to show that they were listened to at the end of the day despite the worries and the stress that we all had.”

 

The existing Marine Protected Area network covers approximately 37 per cent of Scotland’s seas. The EU’s biodiversity strategy sets the target that, by 2030, at least 30 per cent of EU seas should be protected - with 10 per cent to be strictly protected.

 

The latest assessment under the UK Marine Strategy indicated that overall the UK failed to achieve 11 out of 15 descriptors of Good Environmental Status in its seas.

 

Evidence presented in Scotland’s 2020 Marine Assessment shows nine out of 21 marine regions in Scotland have seafloor habitats which are predicted to be in ‘poor condition’ across more than half of their area.