Point data identifying the location of finfish or shellfish farms around Scotland from the Fish Health Inspectorate Aquadat database. This includes fishery sites which are ponds or other installation where farmed fish are stocked for recreational fishing (either private or commercial). The data includes the three categories: Active: is the status of a site that is stocked or fallow with the intention of restocking in the foreseeable future. Inactive: is the status of a site that is unlikely to be stocked in the foreseeable future. Deregistered: is the status applied to a site that is no longer used for the purpose of fish or shellfish production; the lease has been surrendered.

The Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics, abbreviated as NUTS (from the French 'Nomenclature des Unités territoriales statistiques') is a geographical classification that subdivides territories of the European Union (EU) into regions at three different levels (NUTS 1, 2 and 3, respectively, moving from larger to smaller territorial units). At the local scale, two levels of Local Administrative Units (LAU) are also defined: LAU 1 and LAU 2 (formerly referred to as NUTS 4 and NUTS 5, respectively). NUTS areas aim to provide a single and coherent territorial breakdown for the collection, development, and harmonisation of EU regional statistics. Further, eligibility for aid from European Structural Funds (for those regions whose development is lagging behind) is assessed at NUTS 2 level. The NUTS classification was originally developed by Eurostat in the early 1970's, however, only gained legal status with Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 which entered into force in July 2003. A first regular amendment ((EC) No 105/2007) replaced the 2003 version of NUTS with the 2006 version, enacted on 1 January 2008. The current classification is valid until December 31, 2011. For Scottish NUTS areas, the NUTS 1 region covers the whole of Scotland, whereas NUTS 2 subdivides Scotland into 4 regions, and NUTS 3 to 23 regions. Above NUTS 1 is the 'national' level of the EU Member State - the United Kingdom. For Local Administrative Units (LAU) there are currently 41 units at LAU level 1 and 1,222 at level 2. Codes for NUTS regions are prefixed by the characters 'UKM', where 'UK' identifies the member state, the United Kingdom, and 'M' indicates Scotland.

Category 1, 2 and 3 areas are designated on the basis of Marine Scotland predictive models to estimate environmental sensitivity of sea lochs. The maps describe the Category 1, 2 and 3 areas for the Scottish Government Locational Guidelines, designated on the basis of Marine Scotland Science predictive modelling to estimate nutrient enhancement and benthic impact in sea lochs or similar water bodies supporting aquaculture. The sum of these indices was used for the categorisation of areas as indicated: Combined 'nutrient enhancement' and 'benthic impact' indices 7 - 10 (Category 1), 5 - 6 (Category 2), 0 - 4 (Category 3). For a detailed explanation of how these categorisations were derived, refer to the Scottish Fisheries Research (now Marine Scotland Science) Report "Scottish Executive locational guidelines for fish farming: predicted levels of nutrient enhancement and benthic impact"

Fishing pressures can be managed using spatial measures such as prohibiting or restricting certain types of fishing, target species, or vessel capacity. This dataset depicts restrictions defined by EU, UK and Scottish legislation since 1986. Does not include boundaries for the voluntary system of Real Time Closures (RTCs) or the legislative juvenile RTCs. Polygons were simplified for web use and are for illustrative purposes only. Guidance should be sought from Fishery Offices on interpreting legislation. In the 2012 "Report to the Scottish Parliament on Progress to Identify a Scottish Network of Marine Protected Areas" (http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0041/00410766.pdf), eight fisheries restriction areas were also considered to contribute to the MPA network as existing "other area based measures".

In response to local declines in common seal numbers, the Scottish Government introduced conservation orders under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 to provide additional protection on a precautionary basis for vulnerable local populations of common seals. In September 2004, the Conservation of Seals (Scotland) Order 2004 to cover common and grey seals in the Moray Firth, and in March 2007, the Conservation of Seals (Scotland) Order 2007 to cover common seals only in the Northern Isles and Firth of Tay. The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 introduces provisions for existing orders to continue, and for new ones to be introduced administratively as Seal Conservation Areas. The repeal of the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 on 31st January 2011 means that the existing orders will cease if not replaced by Seal Conservation Areas. The Scottish Government intends therefore to continue these existing orders in the form of Seal Conservation Areas from 1 February 2010.

Management Areas were established in the Final Report of the Joint Government/Industry Working Group on Infectious Salmon Anaemia in January 2000, based on tidal excursions around active farms. Farms with overlapping tidal excursions will usually be within the same management area. Recommendations include that all sites within the same management area follow an acceptable stocking strategy (see figure 10.1 in Code of Practice) such that fallowing within a management area is synchronised. Fish farmers are encouraged to look carefully at the areas before stocking sites. New sites that would have no effect on management areas or are in management areas of their own pose less of a risk to the spread of disease than those which bridge management areas. Stocking a previously unused site that may bridge management areas should be avoided. Fish Farmers should consider not restocking a site if it would create a "fire break" and split one of the larger management areas into two smaller areas. The Management Area Maps will be updated when a change in site use leads to a significant change a management area but if you require a map showing the effect of stocking or inactivating a specific site please contact the Duty Inspector at the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI)

Areas where standing approvals permit the application of a limited quantity of chemical dispersants, without the permission of Marine Scotland, to respond to an oil spill. Two areas exist at the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal (Shetland) and Hound Point (Firth of Forth). Data is intended for illustrative purposes and should be used at a maximum scale of 1:10,000.

ScotMap is a Marine Scotland project which provides spatial information on the fishing activity of Scottish registered commercial fishing vessels under 15 m in overall length. The data were collected during face-to-face interview with individual vessel owners and operators and relate to fishing activity for the period 2007 to 2011. The data are aggregated and analysed to provide information on the monetary value, relative importance (relative value) and the usage (number of fishing vessels and crew) of seas around Scotland.

The Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics, abbreviated as NUTS (from the French 'Nomenclature des Unités territoriales statistiques') is a geographical classification that subdivides territories of the European Union (EU) into regions at three different levels (NUTS 1, 2 and 3, respectively, moving from larger to smaller territorial units). At the local scale, two levels of Local Administrative Units (LAU) are also defined: LAU 1 and LAU 2 (formerly referred to as NUTS 4 and NUTS 5, respectively). NUTS areas aim to provide a single and coherent territorial breakdown for the collection, development, and harmonisation of EU regional statistics. Further, eligibility for aid from European Structural Funds (for those regions whose development is lagging behind) is assessed at NUTS 2 level. The NUTS classification was originally developed by Eurostat in the early 1970's, however, only gained legal status with Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 which entered into force in July 2003. A first regular amendment ((EC) No 105/2007) replaced the 2003 version of NUTS with the 2006 version, enacted on 1 January 2008. The current classification is valid until December 31, 2011. For Scottish NUTS areas, the NUTS 1 region covers the whole of Scotland, whereas NUTS 2 subdivides Scotland into 4 regions, and NUTS 3 to 23 regions. Above NUTS 1 is the 'national' level of the EU Member State - the United Kingdom. For Local Administrative Units (LAU) there are currently 41 units at LAU level 1 and 1,222 at level 2. Codes for NUTS regions are prefixed by the characters 'UKM', where 'UK' identifies the member state, the United Kingdom, and 'M' indicates Scotland.

The requirement to display sensitive areas relating to the life history of commercially important fish species in British waters is well recognized. Sensitive areas have previously been described as spawning and nursery grounds. Here we consider only areas where there is evidence of aggregations of 0 group fish and/or larvae of key commercial species. 0 group fish are defined as fish in the first year of their lives. These fish sensitivity maps were originally generated to provide a spatial and temporal description of where physical damage could potentially occur to fish species at sensitive stages in essential habitats of their life cycle. Sources of damage in this context referred to seismic surveying conducted by the offshore Oil and Gas industry during their site investigations. In addition to the acoustic energy that the seismic survey activities generate, we should now add other percussive impact noises from pile driving seabed foundation pins into the seabed, such as those required for offshore renewable energy sites. The spatial location of these fish life history events and their potential interaction with offshore industries can heavily influence the planning, costs and delivery of these offshore developments. It is imperative that these maps reflect the current extent of these areas.