The first ever report on the state of Scotland''s seas was published early April, to help lay the groundwork for the new Scottish Marine Bill.
The main findings of the report 'Scotland's Seas: Towards Understanding their State' are:
• Scotland's seas are generally clean and safe, with a trend towards reduction of most pollutants over the past 20 years
• The seas are generally healthy and biologically diverse, with around 40,000 species of plants, animals and microbial forms living in Scottish waters
• The seas are productive and generate around £2.2 billion of marine-industry activity (excluding oil and gas activity) and provide approximately 50,000 jobs in Scotland
The report was commissioned by the Scottish Government and has been jointly produced by Fisheries Research Service (FRS), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) with assistance from the wider marine scientific community across Scotland and the UK.
Commenting on the report, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead, said:
"Scotland is fortunate enough to have a unique marine environment that everyone should be able to enjoy.
"In order to protect our seas, it is imperative we establish a greater understanding of the current state of our seas and this report which I commissioned is a great starting point. It will provide a baseline against which to measure future progress."
