UP to 37 areas of Scotland's surrounding seas, totalling the size of the country's landmass, are to win special protection in order to support wildlife.
Fishermen and environmentalists are giving a qualified welcome to the move, but some retain reservations, particularly the RSPB.
The Scottish Government yesterday presented a report to MSPs proposing a network of potential Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to help protect fish nursery grounds, marine wildlife and ecology.
The area MPAs cover extends hundreds of miles out into the Atlantic, the North Sea and waters far north of Shetland.
The move would almost double the 12% of Scotland's seas currently protected, bringing the total area to more than 20% of Scotland's waters, or around 32,000 square miles.
Scottish Natural Heritage and the UK-wide advisory body, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, have put forward proposals for 33 MPAs.
A further four have also been identified to protect dolphins, whales and basking sharks, while proposals for protecting sandeels would enhance seabird conservation.
However, ministers have yet to decide how to manage MPAs when they come into force in 2016, and what restrictions should be put on fishing and development of renewable energy and oil.
Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of Scottish Fishermen's Federation, made clear that fishermen believed it was vital the MPAs were managed sensibly.
He said: "We have long recognised the protection requirements of the environment we work in every day. We have insisted from the start scientific evidence and common sense be used in determining the size and number of protected areas and what, if any, practical measures are required in each individual case.
"It is absolutely essential science guides the process, which must serve the requirements of the marine environment and of sustainable harvesting of sea food.
"If MPAs in Scottish waters are properly organised, the objectives should actively support each other. We are committed to that."
However, Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, regarded the proposals as failing to take account of the plight of seabirds in the MPAs.
He said: "[This] announcement, while a step in the right direction, is a massive missed opportunity. Despite Scotland being globally important for these species, seabirds have been almost completely marginal- ised in the identification of Scotland's new Marine Protected Areas
"These proposals offer precious little protection for Scotland's seabirds – iconic species like the puffin, razorbill and kittiwake."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article