JOINT MONITORING OF SCOTTISH MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

Joint monitoring of Scottish Marine Protected Areas

An annual monitoring trip of Scottish waters took place recently with Marine Scotland collaborating with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) on the Marine Research Vessel (MRV) Scotia, focussing on the West Shetland Shelf Marine Protected Area (MPA).

The West Shetland Shelf area was designated in 2014 by Scottish Ministers to protect and support the diverse range of wildlife living in the sand and gravel habitats there including: marine worms, marine molluscs and colourful sponges. At 4,083 km² it is approximately the same size as the Cairngorms National Park and ranges between 70 – 150 m in depth.

Monitoring trips like this allow us to assess the state of Scottish MPAs giving information about the number and type of species present, as well as their range and distribution. This helps to better understand changes in the marine environment over time to inform future management measures.

Custom built in the Scottish Marine Laboratory the drop frame structure contains an underwater camera system and a number of other subsea gadgets to provide measurements along each survey area of the water such as: salinity (saltiness), depth, temperature and positioning data.

The altimeter measures the distance of the drop frame above the seabed, allowing for environmental factors to be cross-referenced with corresponding imagery. These measurements are transmitted back up the umbilical cable and recorded in real time.

An ultra-short baseline (USBL) transponder communicates with a receiver on the ship’s keel (underside) to provide high-accuracy in-water positioning data to determine where each image has been taken on the seabed.

The environmental and positional data are then time-matched with each other and the imagery data to provide comprehensive metadata for each image, so we know the environmental conditions at the position where each seabed photograph was captured

Informed decision making

The data from this and other surveys helps the Scottish Government report to parliament on progress towards the development of an MPA network. This includes an assessment of the extent to which MPAs are achieving their conservation objectives.

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