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 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)

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 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.

Marine Scotland commissioned SNH to identify locations within inshore waters (6NM limit) where there is a need to consider additional management for bottom contacting mobile fishing gears to ensure there is no significant impact on the national status of 11 PMFs*. A consultation was launched in July 2018 seeking views on the data and evidence sources; the proposed management approach; and reasonable alternatives. The following data has been made available: point data for 10 PMF species and their management status (native oysters are excluded for sensitivity reasons); polygon extents of "areas for management consideration" and "knowledge gaps"; polygon extents of estimated fishing footprint of bottom trawl and scallop dredge for period 2009-2016; illustrative management areas for PMFs outside of the MPA network. *The PMFs encompassed by the review are Blue mussel beds, Cold water coral reefs, Fan mussel aggregations, Flame shell beds, Horse mussel beds, Maerl beds, Maerl or coarse shell gravel with burrowing sea cucumbers, Native oysters, Northern sea fan and sponge communities, Seagrass beds, Serpulid aggregations

The Scottish Government is consulting on the creation of a Deep Sea Marine Reserve in the Rockall Trough off the West Coast of Scotland. If taken forward to designation, the site would be underpinned by the powers in the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. This means in legal terms it would have the same status as the other existing Marine Protected Areas in offshore waters. The Rockall Trough, if designated would help meet our international commitments to protect the marine environment in the North-East Atlantic, as required under the OSPAR Convention.

Indicative polygons showing the statutory limits of harbour authorities around Scotland, including competent harbour authorities with responsibilities under the Pilotage Act 1987. The dataset generally uses S57 attributes for fieldnames, see http://www.s-57.com/ for more details. The dataset is derived from a number of sources (listed in attributes) and likely to be incomplete. The boundary polygons are intended for illustrative purposes and are not legally definitive.

Nephrops distribution is limited by the extent of suitable muddy sediment in which animals construct burrows. Nephrops are assessed across Europe as individual stocks in 34 functional units (FUs). This data combines the ICES functional units (based on ICES statistical rectangles), combined with the modelled extent of the muddy sediment in Scottish & adjacent waters, derived from sediment and VMS data.

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).

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).