It is COAST's view that Scotland's marine environment is at a genuine crossroads. Either we choose to act now collectively or we face a continued race to the bottom of the food chain and squander one of Scotland's greatest natural assets and a 'renewable' public resource.

Read COAST’s commissioned article  'Time to Rock the Boat' which explains the regulatory, political and ecological context of the current drive to establish Marine Protected Areas in Scotland with comments from a variety of pro and sceptical marine stakeholders.

Unfortunately one of the major efforts to put marine regulation on a more sustainable footing is in danger of being held back. A Marine Protected Area Coalition - which sounds on the face of it like it is supportive of MPAs - is currently lobbying government to undo some of the work already achieved.

The Marine Protection Area Coalition (MPAC is largely a coalition of fishing interests who do not see the proposed MPA network as a positive development) recently held its first publicly-reported meeting where it complained about 'poor decisions' and the 'weak evidence-base' informing the current efforts to establish a coherent network of MPAs in the UK. Amazingly MPAC said the fisheries sector was 'weakly' represented in discussions.

COAST welcomes MPAC's call for a "consensus-based approach with negotiated and agreed outcomes," but remains incredulous that the fisheries sector feels under-represented in this area. Big fishing interests have dominated the ways our seas have been managed and exploited for decades and have been well represented at recent MPA workshops reviewing proposed MPAs. It is the more sustainable and sensitive forms of fishing (such as small-scale creeling and scallop diving) which have not been well represented in the MPA process. Despite this, groups such as the Scottish Association of Creelers and Divers (SCAD) embrace the introduction of sustainably managed MPAs in Scotland.