From a government press release.
Yesterday Scotland’s Marine Bill today received Royal Assent, marking a major turning point in safeguarding the future of Scotland seas and laying the foundations for a more simplified marine planning and licensing system.
The Marine (Scotland) Act provides a framework which will help balance competing demands on Scotland’s seas. It introduces a [...]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(i) Scotland is the major fishing nation within the UK and one of the most significant fishing nations within the EU. The Scottish industry has been at the forefront of fisheries management modernisation and innovation aimed at ensuring sustainable fisheries. Many coastal communities in Scotland are amongst the most fisheries-dependent in Europe.
(ii) [...]

The Common Fisheries Policy is Europe’s regulatory regime governing fisheries in EU waters.
Each Member State is given an annual Total Allowable Catch (TAC) that is distributed so each country has relative stability of fishing activities. More recent controls have involved limits on fishing efforts and technical conservation measures.
The Policy has been criticised by some [...]

Dr Bill Wilson, an SNP MSP for the West of Scotland and member of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, has had his amendment to the Marine (Scotland) Bill, calling for the establishment of a representative network of conservation sites, which would include Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas, approved.
He commented today, “I am [...]

Speaking after an Autumn Fisheries Negotiations debate in Holyrood, Liberal Democrat Fisheries spokesman Liam McArthur MSP said:
“There is mounting concern among Scotland’s fishermen that Scottish ministers have taken their eye off the ball in relation to the upcoming end-year negotiations. This concern is giving way to anger at the sense that the SNP government has [...]

Scottish Government press release.
A new era for Scotland’s seas came a step closer today when the Marine Bill passed its first parliamentary stage.
The Scottish Government also announced it was to have new responsibilities for safeguarding the health of all Scottish waters out to 200 nautical miles in implementing new European regulations. This is in addition [...]

Rural Affairs, Environment and Climate Change
This paper is part of the National Conversation series of papers, considering issues for rural affairs, the environment and climate change.
According to it’s introduction, Scotland has already demonstrated that it can work well within the existing constitutional arrangements to deliver imaginative and successful policies to improve the quality of life [...]

The Marine (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Parliament on 29 April 2009. The Rural Affairs and Environment Committee was designated the lead Committee on the Bill. No secondary committees were designated to report to the lead Committee.
SSACN made a written submission and gave verbal evidence to the Committee.
The following is a summary of their [...]

The government has produced a document giving an overview of the aims of the Scottish Marine Bill. It covers the following main areas :

Marine Planning:

A new statutory marine planning framework to manage the competing demands for the use of the sea whilst protecting the marine environment. Making sure that marine energy, fishing, aquaculture, shipping, [...]