The Scottish government has ditched controversial marine protection plans after a furious backlash that united coastal communities, grassroots campaigners and sectors of the fishing industry.
Holyrood’s net zero secretary, Màiri McAllan, promised “further community and industry engagement” as she announced on Thursday the end of proposals to implement highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) that would impose strict limits on human activity such as fishing, aquaculture and tourism in at least 10% of Scotland’s waters by 2026.
Restating her government’s commitment to enhanced marine protection, McAllan said a new pathway and timetable would be published after the summer recess.
Advocates say “no-take zones” are a moderate step, widely used across Europe and piloted in England by the UK government, and that they are essential for the recovery of depleted coastal fish stocks and seabeds. Local attempts to “rewild” the sea, such as the no-take zone established in 2008 in Lamlash Bay on Arran, have been successful, they add.
But grassroots campaigners, usually at odds with each other over other issues, argued the plans – a key part of the Bute House agreement that brought the Scottish Greens into government with the SNP in 2021 – would devastate island cultures, in particular. The Scottish government also faced cross-sector criticism of the policy as poorly evidenced and dismissive of local experience.
The plans exposed significant tensions within the SNP, in particular over the influence of its Green governing partners on controversial policy and a Holyrood vote on the subject resulting in the first backbench rebellion since Humza Yousaf became first minister.
Responding to McAllan’s statement, the Scottish Greens coastal communities spokesperson, Ariane Burgess, accused opposition parties of trying to “weaponise the nature emergency” and welcomed the commitment to “community-led input”.
The former SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes, who rebelled against her government on the issue, said the announcement would “come as an immense relief to those who understood the risk to coastal communities from the very beginning”.
“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,” she said.
Phil Taylor, the director of the conservation charity Open Seas, who previously spoke of “complete entrenchment” over the proposals, said: “The Scottish government are now learning an important lesson that deep community engagement and participation is fundamental to effective environmental action.”
Taylor said the recent successful judicial review by Open Seas, which found the Scottish government acted unlawfully by not considering its own marine protection plans when it granted licences for scallop dredging, showed that ministers needed to uphold their existing legal obligations.
“The HPMA debate has diverted some attention from the routine environmental damage to Scotland’s coastal seabed caused by scallop dredging and bottom-trawling. Scottish ministers must prioritise action on these most destructive fishing methods to secure real sustainability for our seas and fisheries.”
