MSP raises marine protection concerns
SHETLAND MSP Tavish Scott is raising concerns about the Scottish government’s approach to designating marine protected areas (MPAs) around the isles.
While the community of Fair Isle have been actively campaigning for an MPA around their island, Mr Scott said they were being ignored in favour of an area near Fetlar where local people are worried designation will affect jobs in the fishing and other industries.
Mr Scott is meeting with representatives of Scottish Natural Heritage on Tuesday to discuss the consultation, which is being carried out by SNH and the UK-wide Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
“Fair Isle has always wanted marine protection. The community supports it and has campaigned for such an MPA designation. Yet SNH and the JNCC want to designate an area next to Fetlar,” he said.
“The simple question is why, when Fair Isle has made a compelling case to be an MPA, have SNH and the JNCC ignored this in favour of Fetlar where local people are concerned that an MPA will make it more difficult to develop businesses dependant on the sea?
“Surely it is best to work with island communities to achieve a shared objective – marine protection – than to ignore a campaign that has been going on for many years.
“In addition to my meetings, I have also asked that the Scottish government make a socio-economic assessment of any proposed designation given the worries over greater and increasing bureaucracy that local businesses face.”
Mr Scott has tabled a series of parliamentary questions on the issue and plans to meet with the JNCC in the next few weeks.
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