Depositional Zone Regulation - A new regulatory method for marine cage fish farms

Overview

Globally, our oceans are under stress. This was powerfully emphasised at the recent United Nations Ocean Conference in New York. One of the many pressures on our marine environment is the harvesting of wild fish stocks. Aquaculture, including caged fish farming, represents one way to reduce this pressure but only if it is done well. If done poorly, it can also cause damage to the marine environment. SEPA's role is to ensure that aquaculture in Scotland's marine environment operates responsibly and with minimum environmental impact.

As a result, we intend to modernise and strengthen the way we regulate aquaculture.  We have prepared draft proposals and we want your views about whether our proposals are right.