On 10 March 2010, Scotland's Marine Bill received Royal Assent, making it the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

The Marine (Scotland) Act is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provides a framework which will help balance competing demands on Scotland's seas. It introduces a duty to protect and enhance the marine environment and includes measures to help boost economic investment and growth in areas such as marine renewables.

The main measures include:

  • Marine planning: a new statutory marine planning system to sustainably manage the increasing, and often conflicting, demands on our seas
  • Marine licensing: a simpler licensing system, minimising the number of licences required for development in the marine environment to cut bureaucracy and encourage economic investment
  • Marine conservation: improved marine nature and historic conservation with new powers to protect and manage areas of importance for marine wildlife, habitats and historic monuments
  • conservation: much improved protection for seals and a new comprehensive licence system to ensure appropriate management when necessary
  • Enforcement: a range of enhanced powers of marine conservation and licensing

Stakeholders

Wildlife organisations, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, welcomed the new laws.

See also

External links