Regulating and Several Orders are granted by the Scottish Ministers under the terms of the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967 (the 1967 Act), as amended, in respect of the Scottish zone. They are made for the establishment or improvement and for the maintenance and regulation of a shellfish fishery. A Regulating Order confers on its grantee the right to regulate fishing for a named species in a defined area, for a specified limit of time. A Several Order gives its grantee an exclusive right to deposit, propagate, dredge, fish for or take the species named in the Order, in the specified area and for a specified limit of time. An Order may restrict other fishing practices within its area in order to protect the specified shellfish stock. Shapefile includes hyperlinks to individual SSIs.

The 21 Scottish marine regions and offshore marine regions are used for state of the sea assessments. These areas consolidate the existing statutory Scottish Marine Regions with non-statutory offshore marine regions. For the purposes of assessment, the offshore marine regions extend to the continental shelf limits (adjacent to Scotland)

The Sectoral Marine Plan aims to identify the most sustainable plan options for the future development of commercial-scale offshore wind energy in Scotland, including deep water wind technologies and covers both Scottish inshore and offshore waters (extending out to the Exclusive Economic Zone limit). The Sectoral Marine seeks to contribute to the achievement of Scottish and UK energy and climate change policy objectives and targets, through the provision of a spatial strategy to inform the seabed leasing process for commercial offshore wind energy in Scottish waters, which: - Minimises the potential adverse effects on other marine users, economic sectors and the environment resulting from further commercial-scale offshore wind development; and - Maximises opportunities for economic development, investment and employment in Scotland, by identifying new opportunities for commercial scale offshore wind development, including deeper water wind technologies. The draft Plan Options ("DPO") provide the spatial footprint for this Sectoral Marine Plan.

The 15 Scottish sea areas are based on areas previously adopted for certain environmental monitoring programmes. The data from these 15 areas can be presented regionally and also reasonably aggregated to form a national picture and to develop information for the two main areas required for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive initial assessment: the Greater North Sea (Area II) and the Celtic Seas (Area III) which are existing sea areas used by OSPAR (the Oslo Paris Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic)

Effort (days) derived from UK-registered commercial fishing activity in Scottish seas using active pelagic gears (midwater trawls, seines, and trolling lines), as recorded in last five years of published statistics. Data is redacted if less than five vessels operate within an ICES statistical rectangle (values = -1).

Fisheries which returned coastal fixed engine or net and coble catches of salmon or sea trout to Marine Scotland Science from 2011 onwards. Fishery locations are repeated for each year that the fishery was active, i.e. reported catch data. More information on the Scottish Government salmon and sea trout fishery statistics is provided at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Publications/stats/SalmonSeaTroutCatches

Effort (days) derived from UK-registered commercial fishing activity in Scottish seas using active demersal gears (bottom trawls, bottom seines, and dredges), as recorded in last five years of published statistics. . Data is redacted if less than five vessels operate within an ICES statistical rectangle (values = -1).

Effort (days) derived from UK-registered commercial fishing activity in Scottish seas using passive gears (set nets, lines, creels/pots and traps), as recorded in last five years of published statistics. Data is redacted if less than five vessels operate within an ICES statistical rectangle (values = -1).

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are present around the coast of Scotland in internationally import numbers. They breed on wave-exposed rocky coasts, sometimes on sand or shingle beaches at the foot of cliffs, often on relatively remote islands, with large groups of pregnant females returning to traditional breeding sites in the autumn. This data shows the breeding colonies currently listed with the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU).

Onshore oil and gas licensing powers were devolved to Scottish Ministers on 9 February 2018. Onshore includes the marine area within territorial baselines. These datasets show onshore hydrocarbon fields, wells, and licensed blocks.