Save Scottish Seas

Read all our latest news here including press releases, blogs, social media posts and upcoming events.

Exploring Scotland’s deep sea

08 Dec 2019

The deep sea, technically defined as the areas below 200 m water depth, is the largest Ecosystem on Earth but the least explored. Guest blogger Dr Georgios Kazanidis, Post-Doctorate Research Associate in Deep-Sea Biodiversity at the University of Edinburgh and the H2020 ATLAS project, shares some of his insights about this incredible environment.

The end of the line for North Sea cod?

11 Sep 2019

Cod is more than a commodity, it’s vital for North Sea health – Calum Duncan Earlier this year, the intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on ­Biodiversity and Ecosystem ­Services (IPBES) published the most ­comprehensive assessment ever conducted on the global state of nature. The stark conclusion was that nature is undergoing dangerous rates of decline unprecedented in human […]

Happy 5th Birthday, nature conservation MPAs!

24 Jul 2019

Today, 24th July, marks the 5th anniversary of the Scottish Government’s historic announcement, designating 30 new nature conservation marine protected areas and proposing a further 4 for the protection of features including Risso’s dolphin, minke whale and basking shark (which are under public consultation now!).

Whales and dolphins and sharks – oh my!

07 Jun 2019

A long-awaited public consultation on proposals for four new marine protected areas in Scottish Seas has launched – fittingly, the day before World Oceans Day.  

The Ecosystem-Based Approach to environmental management

18 Feb 2019

In previous blogs we have talked about the importance of implementing appropriate management measures for human activities in our seas to protect species and habitats, whether within a marine protected area (MPA) or as part of wider management, for example the implementation of a marine spatial plan. We often refer to the term ‘Ecosystem-based Approach’ […]

Are we nearly there yet?!

17 Dec 2018

Progress on Scotland’s MPA network to date It has been 8 years since the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 received royal assent and was adopted into Scots law. This key piece of legislation, long campaigned for by the Save Scottish Seas coalition, and other environmental and community organisations, represented significant reform for the way marine conservation […]

SOS: Save Our Skate!

05 Dec 2018

Did you know that Scotland is home to 3-metre long wild animals that are at greater risk of extinction than the giant panda? John Aitchison, from Friends of the Sound of Jura, a coastal community group based in Knapdale, mid-Argyll, delves into the mysterious and little known flapper skate… 

Maerl: an important ecosystem engineer

22 Nov 2018

Maerl beds Pink and twig-like, living maerl is a hard, coral-like seaweed that forms complex carpets on the seabed. These ‘maerl beds’ often form in shallow areas with strong currents and offer a place of shelter for many marine plants and animals such as other seaweeds, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, anemones and bivalve molluscs – […]

Seafloor Integrity

09 Nov 2018

Report concludes that we simply don’t know whether our current use of the seabed is sustainable or not Calum Duncan reflects on the findings of a report commissioned by Scottish Environment LINK’s Marine Group to explore whether current conservation measures are sufficient to recover Scotland’s depleted seabed.

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