Marine Scotland Communications

Written 418 posts

OSPAR’s IA2017 – What is it?

30th June 2017

The OSPAR Intermediate Assessment 2017 (or IA2017K) is an assessment of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic and its current status. It’s not the first time they’ve done this – its previous holistic assessment, the QSR 2010, was a culmination of ten years of joint assessment and monitoring by OSPAR Contracting Parties and seven years on, with…

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Another award goes to Plan

29th June 2017

The pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan (PFOW MSP), which was developed by a collaboration of Marine Scotland, Orkney Islands Council and the Highland Council, has won the Excellence in Plan Making Practice category at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence 2017. The team was presented with the…

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There be prawns!

22nd June 2017

Earlier, we posted information about the 7th research survey that our research vessel, the Alba na Mara was doing. Here we have the final blog from the Scientist in Charge on that survey, Adrian Weetman: Following the long journey from Fladen to the west coast on Monday 12th June, the annual Nephrops Under Water TV Survey began working in…

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Introducing… the new look Scotland’s environment website

22nd June 2017

The SEWeb team have launched the new look Scotland’s environment website. The new website has been designed and developed following discussion and feedback with you, our users, to find out what you want and need from this online resource. It’s still a work in progress but in this first phase release you’ll find new designs, functionality and…

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Message in a bottle

20th June 2017

Many of us will have spent hours as a child drawing pictures or drafting letters to stuff in a bottle, to be sent on its way from the local beach; hopefully, to be found in a far-away place (or maybe even time) by a mysterious stranger. The “message in a bottle” conjures up romantic notions…

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Latest update from the MRV Scotia survey 0717S – the 7th of the year

15th June 2017

Duration: 6- 26 June 2017 Gear onboard:   2 x Scotia BT175 80mm prawn trawls 2 x Day grabs and 1 x sieving table 2 x towed UWTV sledges 2 x 600m umbilical towing cables and associated TV equipment (including back up) Objectives To obtain estimates of the abundance and distribution of Nephrops burrow complexes at…

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New report published about bird and mammal displacement with wave and tidal energy devices

13th June 2017

As the offshore marine renewables industry grows, understanding the way that marine species may respond to the installation and operation of wave and tidal energy devices is of particular importance. Recently, extensive research and effort has gone into furthering our understanding of potential implications of deploying these devices into Scottish waters. However, several questions still…

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Freshwater Fisheries Open Day a success

5th June 2017

On 13th May, colleagues from the Freshwater Fisheries laboratory at Faskally in Pitlochry held an Open Day at the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry. The day included and series of six talks that were held in the morning and afternoon, with more than 30 posters and films on show throughout the day. There were also practical exhibits…

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SEWeb – volunteers needed to test new Scotland’s environment website

24th May 2017

The team from SEWeb are looking for volunteers to help us carry out usability testing of the Scotland’s environment website. The Scotland’s environment website brings together environmental information and data in one place so that it is easy to search, discover, view, analyse and interpret. In June, a new look test version of the website will…

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New consultation launched on fin fish and shellfish developments

8th May 2017

    Last Friday, Marine Scotland launched a consultation to propose amendments to permitted development rights for fin fish and shellfish developments. Comments are being sought on whether to relax the current requirement for prior notification under existing rights and to consult on improvements to rights relevant to shellfish farmers. The proposed changes are the result of the review of current rights, undertaken…

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