Lamlash Bay No Take Zone Success

That the Parliament recognises Lamlash Bay No Take Zone (NTZ) as paving the way for the revival of marine environments, including the seabed; notes that a NTZ is an area of sea and seabed from which no marine life can be removed by any method; understands that, as the world’s oceans are under unprecedented pressure, with serious losses in biodiversity alongside the damaging effects of climate change, scientific evidence has shown that NTZs are one of the most effective ways to ensure marine regeneration; understands that, for over a decade, the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) has worked in collaboration with the University of York to monitor and survey the species and seabed habitats within Lamlash Bay NTZ and South Arran Marine Protected Area, and that a new collaborative study shows that marine life has regenerated dramatically, with numbers of some species having increased by nearly 400% since the community-backed NTZ was established in 2008; acknowledges that the study revealed nearly four times more king scallops in the NTZ since research began in 2010 and that legal-sized lobster numbers are also four times higher in the NTZ than adjacent areas; believes Lamlash Bay NTZ has shown that, with community support, strong science and political will, seas can be recovered, and believes that the Scottish Government should encourage and take forward the creation of more NTZs as part of its marine management plans.