Species and Habitat Mapping
The Marine Spatial Planning Team at Shetland UHI keep records of rare, unusual and protected species in the seas around the Shetland Islands. This includes records from government agencies, commercial surveys, our own surveys, and records from members of the public and fishermen.
They also actively undertake intertidal and sub-tidal species and habitat surveys, and surveys to detect potentially harmful non-native species. Acoustic surveys are undertaken along with predictive mapping, to identify marine habitats and species to aid the development of the Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan (SIRMP) and to inform commercial activity. All known records of protected habitats and species can be found in the SIRMP and in the Shetland Marine State of the Environment Assessment.
How you can get involved
How you can get involved
We welcome new records from all marine users. We have created a number of leaflets to help with species identification. Including a leaflet aimed at swimmers, snorkellers and divers to help them identify and report rare and important species in Shetland. We have also developed a leaflet to help record sittings of non-native species and climate change indicator species.
Further information can be found within our Biosecurity pages and Non-native Species Information pages. Or to find out more about how to get involved in group marine monitoring, have a look at the Shetland Community Wildlife Group website.
Download species identification leaflets below:
Habitat Mapping to Inform Fisheries Management
Habitat Mapping to Inform Fisheries Management
The Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) team worked with the local Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation to establish voluntary closed areas for scallop dredge fishing to allow fishermen to avoid sensitive habitats. In the case of the inshore waters around Shetland, this included maerl, horse mussel and eelgrass.
The MSP team then used its acoustic survey and drop camera equipment to accurately map the extent of these types of habitat as detailed in the Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan (SIRMP) As the MSP team also administers the Regional Marine Plan, there is a good mechanism to get the data into the public domain.
Download the pdf version of the map here: Voluntary closed areas for scallop dredge fishing
Discovery Zone
Discovery Zone
Information on unusual species found by fishermen and members of the public can be viewed within the Discovery Zone section of our website.
