Shetland's Marine Environment
Shetland's marine environment is dynamic and diverse. It includes internationally, nationally and locally important marine natural heritage features and designated areas. As well as their conservation importance these habitats and species directly and indirectly support a range of goods and services including wild fisheries, tourism, recreation, carbon sequestration and coastal protection. This natural capital has benefited the people of Shetland since the first evidence of human activity from around 4300 BC.
Find out more about our species and habitat monitoring on the following links:
To help protect marine species and habitats and the ecosystem services they provide the Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan (SIRMP) contains policies designed to safeguard water quality, habitats and species, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and minimise the threat of non-native species.
To support the SIRMP, a number of assessments and plans were created. Use the drop down sections below to find out more.
Shetland Islands Marine Region State of the Environment Assessment
Shetland Islands Marine Region State of the Environment Assessment
In 2017, the Marine Spatial Planning Section at Shetland UHI published the Shetland Marine Region State of the Environment Assessment on behalf of the Shetland Marine Planning Partnership with guidance from the Shetland Marine Planning Partnership Advisory Group.
The assessment provides a baseline assessment of the Shetland marine and coastal environment out to 12 nautical miles. This was accomplished using the most up-to-date data available as of December 2016 and trend analysis was used to provide a baseline for future years.
The assessment was used to inform the development of policies within the Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan and is a legal requirement under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.
Download the assessment below:
Shetland Islands Marine Region Action Plan
Shetland Islands Marine Region Action Plan
The Shetland Islands Marine State of the Environment Assessment highlighted a number of areas which are data deficient (known as ‘data gaps’. The Shetland Islands Marine Region Action Plan provides a summary of these data gaps and sets out a plan to address them where feasible.
Download the action plan below:
Biosecurity Plan for the Shetland Islands
Biosecurity Plan for the Shetland Islands
To support the Shetland Island's Regional Marine Plan the Marine Spatial Planning Team monitor the occurrence of introduced marine species (also known as non-native species) in Shetland. This supports the Biosecurity Plan for the Shetland Islands which was guided by the Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan Advisory Group.
This Biosecurity Plan provides useful and practical information on best practice procedures for all marine users that will contribute to the effective management of marine NNS.
Find out more: