Conclusions .

Fish farming is a mature industry in Scotland with a long history of regulation to ensure production is sustainable from an environmental and fish health perspective. As such it operates a fairly complex, but effective system of planning and licensing including spatial management and zoning for multiple purposes, rather than a single zoning and permitting system.

With the advent of Regional Marine Planning in Scotland over the next few years we may see much of these spatial management policies and zones integrated into Regional Marine Plans.