Marine (Scotland) Act 2010

On 10 March 2010, Scotland's Marine Bill received Royal Assent, making it the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

The Marine (Scotland) Act is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provides a framework which will help balance competing demands on Scotland's seas. It introduces a duty to protect and enhance the marine environment and includes measures to help boost economic investment and growth in areas such as marine renewables.

The main measures include:


 * Marine planning: a new statutory marine planning system to sustainably manage the increasing, and often conflicting, demands on our seas
 * Marine licensing: a simpler licensing system, minimising the number of licences required for development in the marine environment to cut bureaucracy and encourage economic investment
 * Marine conservation: improved marine nature and historic conservation with new powers to protect and manage areas of importance for marine wildlife, habitats and historic monuments
 * conservation: much improved protection for seals and a new comprehensive licence system to ensure appropriate management when necessary
 * Enforcement: a range of enhanced powers of marine conservation and licensing

Stakeholders
Wildlife organisations, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, welcomed the new laws.
 * RSPB Scotland: Marine Environment Inquiry / Written evidence to the Environment and Rural Development Committee of the UK Government, December 2006