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Proposals for four new Marine
Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scotland
have been unveiled by the Scottish
Government.
The areas are North East Lewis,
Shiant East Bank in the middle of
the Minch, the Southern Trench in
the outer Moray Firth and the Sea
of the Hebrides including the
islands of Rùm and Eigg. If
approved, it would make Scotland
the first country in the world to
provide designated areas of
protection to specific species.
Covering a combined area of
more than 5,000 square miles, the
new MPAs aim to protect species
like minke whales and Risso’s
dolphins and a wide range of
biodiversity and geological features
including fronts – cool nutrient-rich
waters that are important feeding
grounds for many marine species.
Scotland currently has 231 MPAs,
covering 22% of Scottish waters.
In its consultation documents,Sunsail is to add 25 new Jeanneau
Sun Odyssey 410s to their UK fleet.
The £3.75 million investment will
deliver 15 boats in 2020, with a further
10 in 2021. Based at Port Solent, the
fleet will be available for charters and
all major UK sailing events. The boats,
which will be known as Sunsail 41.
yachts, will also be used at Sunsail
events and school courses.
Each Sunsail 41.0 will have three
cabins and one head. The bowsprit
will be removed and a racing pack for
jib and main sail trimming will be added.The UK is Sunsail’s largest market,
attracting overseas sailors keen to
cruise the Solent and take advantage
of the exchange rate.
The president of Sunsail, Simon
Cross, said the new yachts would
‘provide a fantastic matched fleet
sailing opportunity [..] unrivalled by any
other charter fleet in the UK.’ He added
that the 41.0s feature a more efficient
engine design than the current fleet.
Breathe Oceanic, Opihr Gin, Raymarine
and TheYachtMarket.com are set to
sponsor the first four yachts.Sunsail invests £3.75m in UK fl eet
More protection for Scotland’s seas
The bowsprit will be removed on all of the Sunsail yachtsMarine Scotland
states that the new
designated areas
will not have an
economic impact on
recreational sailing,
although ports and
harbours could face
increased costs for
extra environmental assessments for
new development projects including
dredging and reclamation.
Restrictions on noisy activity in
whale and basking shark season
between April and October and
Risso’s dolphin high season between
May and October are also proposed,
and vessels will have a 6 knot limit
within Shark Awareness Zones.
Sailor and marine engagement
specialist, Sarah Brown said the
proposed extension to the MPA
network in Scotland has a lot of
benefits to recreational boating.
‘None of the suggested
management measures shouldimpact our activities unnecessarily
and, if effective, they stand to protect
and enhance the wildlife we all love
so much. Every time we go to sea we
see something special, from basking
sharks to minke whales. Every time I
check Scottish sailing social media, I
see people celebrating great wildlife
encounters. If a cohesive network of
MPA’s supports that wildlife then I am
all for it!’ she stressed.
Brown added that ‘having
healthier seas can only support the
development of sailing tourism in
Scotland’. This is a key strand of
Scotland’s Awakening the Giant
marine tourism strategy 2015-2020,
which aims to increase marine
tourism from £360 million to £
million, and sailing tourism from
£105 million to £145 million.
Sailors wishing to respond to the
consultation should visit: consult.gov.
scot/marine-scotland/four-new-
marine-protected-areas/. It closes on
30 August 2019.Sp
or
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NEWSABOVE: The
new MPAs
aim to protect
species such as
basking sharksBELOW: The island
of Rùm is included
in the proposed
MPA for the Sea
of the Hebrides,
the largest of the
proposed MPAs