SCOTLAND’S west coast has been identified as a potential future hotspot for conflict between stakeholders as competition grows for our limited marine resources.

There is a joint call today for action to avoid such a clash by ensuring that sea users and marine industries work together to better manage competing demands.

The appeal comes from environment group WWF Scotland and the Celtic Seas Partnership following the publication of the latter’s new report, which examined three scenarios for the next 20 years and found the seas are set to get significantly busier under them all.

The body said that without a more balanced approach to managing the marine environment there could be more conflict between competing sectors and substantial environmental impacts.

It identified the west coast of Scotland, South Wales and the Irish Sea as hotspots where economic activity is likely to be particularly intense in future.

The groups highlight two UK examples where industry and local communities have been reaping the benefits of working together.

One is the Shetland Islands’ Marine Spatial Plan, which brings together fishermen, environmental bodies, heritage groups and planners to develop guidance for the use and management of the seas around Shetland.

The second is Fishing for Data, a scheme to develop a strategy to enable the fishing industry to collect data from commercial fishing vessels and improve the effectiveness of scientific assessments of the marine environment. Achieving marine environmental goals in UK and EU waters will require engagement between sectors and across borders, said the group, while harnessing the industrial fishing fleet to provide data and evidence will help achieve environmental targets.

Celtic Seas Partnership’s project manager Dr Jenny Oates said: “Scottish waters are set to face increasing demands for space. With a balanced approach to managing our seas, taking into account the environment and the well-being of our communities, these waters can be a huge asset to the Scottish economy.

“The Scottish Government has gone some way to addressing this by producing the first ever National Marine Plan. This envisaged a whole network of 11 regional marine plans around Scotland.

“However, so far the only operational regional marine planning partnerships are in Shetland and the Clyde. The Shetland Islands Marine Spatial Plan was designated as a pilot area, and the Scottish Government has confirmed it intends to use it to develop regional marine planning partnerships around the rest of Scotland’s coast.”

Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland, said Scotland had always been fairly progressive managing what was a shared resource.

“However, with studies suggesting that Scotland’s marine resources will come under ever increasing pressure over the coming years, it’s important that we take steps now to address the challenges we might face,” he said.

“Thanks to some innovative collaborative approaches already happening here, we strongly believe that it will be possible to avoid a rise in conflict between sea-users even as competition for space and resources in Scottish seas grows.”

Fisherman Simon Collins, from the Shetland Fisherman’s Association, added that conflict was not inevitable: “We’ve found in Shetland that sensible outcomes can be reached when there is a clear understanding of the local community’s economic and cultural foundations, sound science and a genuine willingness to talk.

“Crucially, the advisory group overseeing the plan’s development has always proceeded by consensus – never a vote. The sea is too important to us to be left to ideological or partisan squabbling.”