Marine Scotland

Marine Scotland is part of the core Scottish Government and was set up to manage Scotland's waters.^[1] It was established on April 1, 2009 and is the lead marine management organisation in Scotland and the champion of Scotland's Seas.

The body brings together the functions of the Fisheries Research Services, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and the Scottish Government's Marine Directorate and has responsibility for marine science, planning, policy development, management and for monitoring compliance.

Its role is to encourage all concerned with the marine environment to work together towards agreed priorities and outcomes: and to ensure complementary approaches so that the impact of marine management activity across Scotland exceeds the sum of its constituent parts.

While many of its activities are focused on marine issues, it also continues to play an important role in the research and management of freshwater fisheries.

Marine Scotland has around 700 staff: most located in Edinburgh and the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen, with others based at the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory in Pitlochry, in the network of offices around Scotland or operating on board its marine vessels. Marine Scotland has a range of skills and professions including scientists, sea fishery officers, policy, administrative and professional/ technical staff.

Marine Scotland's gross budget for 2010/11 is around £79m, including around £11m for industry support measures. A further £6m has been made available to complete our new Fish Veterinary Aquaria (FVA) in Aberdeen. It also has substantial support assets - including 3 ocean-going protection vessels, 2 research vessels, 2 surveillance aircraft and a satellite monitoring system capable of tracking the movement of individual vessels.

References

1. ^ New body to manage Scotland's waters, The Scotsman, 10 February 2009

See also

• Fishing in Scotland

External links

• Marine Scotland
• Marine and Fisheries in Scotland
• Marine (Scotland) Act 2010
• Marine Scotland Strategic Plan 2010 - 2013
• Marine Scotland Vision