Marine Protected Areas and No Take Zones- What’s the difference?

 No Take Zones (NTZs), Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are often confused and need a bit of explaining. MPAs, NTZs and SACs are spatial management tools in that they define areas of the sea where special management measures are in place. However an MPA or SAC is not necessarily an area of no take to all fisheries (as is the case in the Lamlash Bay No Take Zone). Instead they normally set out a series of measures designed to sustainably manage the waters and seabed within it to conserve special features such as eel grass and reefs or help restore heavily impacted fisheries such as in the Firth of Clyde . These measures may include a restriction on certain types of environmentally damaging fishing practices such as scallop dredging and bottom trawling for Nephrops prawns but allow more sustainable fishing practices such as creeling and line fishing. The return or conservation of fish stocks either as an end in itself or to restore viable commercial fisheries is normally an objective of an MPA.

COAST’s proposal for an MPA around the southern part of Arran from Corriegills Point to Drumadoon point is for an MPA of this type (as was the original proposed MPA in Lamlash Bay). A no take zone (usually a smaller area) may be included within an MPA to assist in the regeneration of the whole area through the dispersal of larvae and the provision of undisturbed nursery grounds for juvenile fish. The aim of the Lamlash NTZ and proposed MPA for the south of Arran is to protect vulnerable and significant habitats around our shores allowing the seabed to recover from dredging. It is hoped that biodiversity will increase and fish nursery areas will recover attracting other marine life such as whales. In the long term this should have significant benefits for commercial and leisure fishermen in the Clyde and also benefit sea birds and wildlife tourism operators.