Introduction

For centuries Fair Islanders have looked after their resources – not for any altruistic reason, but because they had no other option. Greater mobility and changes in marine legislation in the 20^th century meant that others now had access to a resource which had previously been largely for local use. The new user groups were free from the constraints of safeguarding stock for future use, because for them Fair Isle waters were only part of a wider resource. The islanders could no longer compete and the 20^th century saw a wholesale and difficult shift from a subsistence economy with fishing at its heart, to a more mixed economy. What has not changed, however, is that the new economy still relies strongly on our ties with the sea. From traditional Shetland yoal boat-building to the tourist trade, the key element for those earning a living on the isle remains a healthy marine environment and maintenance of the marine resource.

The Fair Isle community is very concerned that we are effectively excluded from having a say in the control and management of our marine resource – a resource which has sustained us for centuries and which remains at the heart of our economic and social life. The Fair Isle community recognises the imperative need to safeguard our resources, terrestrial and marine, for future generations. Our concerns are social and economic as much as environmental. A healthy, pristine environment is an essential ingredient for our future well-being.

Background 

It was in 1989, at a meeting of all the island families on Fair Isle, that one crofter famously first expressed concerns about the island’s marine resource. Seabirds were dying from lack of food; piltocks, ollocks and mackerel in season were still to be had, but where, he asked, were the other fish? The trawlers were no longer finding the sandeels they had previously taken in the thousands of tons; or were sweeping through large shoals of juvenile whitefish in the hope of catching some of commercial size. Should we not be worried about all this, he asked? And he was right.

His words were the stimulus for a community effort which has lasted to this day and which has provided the inspiration for other communities to follow the islanders’ example and take action to protect their marine environment.

Initially, the islanders’ concerns were raised in letters and reports to the National Trust for Scotland, owners of Fair Isle since 1954, and to other interested organisations. But in 1996 their efforts were formalised through the formation of the Fair Isle Marine Environment and Tourism Initiative (FIMETI).

It was much needed. Until the 20th century Fair Isle’s economy was based on fishing. But with larger boats targeting its waters and islanders working in vain to protect their essential economic resource, it began to suffer. By 1950 things had reached crisis point, and four years later the Trust stepped in. The move from subsistence fishing to a diversified economy on Fair Isle was slow and painful, with the Trust working closely with the community to renew infrastructure and diversify income-earning opportunities.

Since then the population has grown and, with it, the range of activities, many of which still reflect the marine culture. At the same time the Bird Observatory, established by the last laird, George Waterston, continues to monitor the seabirds and the food they bring to their chicks.

Visitors are now more numerous than ever before, with many people appreciating Fair Isle for its environmental qualities. The variety of the wildlife is a fundamental factor. Fair Isle’s seabird populations are so large that several species are designated as internationally important and others as nationally important. Two species of seal, dolphins and whales use Fair Isle waters, including the stunning orca, or killer whale. There are several, rare species of seaweed, and the isle lies in an important transition zone between northern and more southern marine fauna expanding northwards with climate change.

Thus, as well as being a major reason for people to visit, the marine environment remains an essential resource for the isle and its inhabitants.

In recognition of all this, the community as represented by FIMETI has done everything it can to seek sensible management of Fair Isle’s waters, engaging in dialogue with local and regional planning organisations and making proposals for a pilot study in sustainable management. 

With the financial help of Scottish Office Rural Challenge and RSPB funding, FIMETI produced two policy reports: Managing the Sea For Birds (1997) and Safeguarding Our Heritage - the Fair Isle marine resource, a community proposal for its sustainable management" (1998). Following this, FIMETI took the lead in a sustainable resource management project with communities in north Norway and Swedish Lapland as part of the EU/Norwegian Government Northern Periphery Programme. A series of reports resulted (available on the project website http://www.safeinherit.net). A number of booklets relating to various aspects of the natural and cultural values of the Fair Isle marine resource were also prepared and published in 2003-04.

Fair Isle has held the prestigious Council of Europe Diploma since 1985, which recognises communities living in harmony with their environment. It is significant that when it was recently renewed, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers attached six recommendations, four of which related to the marine area. They include a call for a Marine Protected Area within the European Union Birds Directive and Habitats Directive in waters adjacent to Fair Isle to be created in consultation with Fair Isle’s community representatives, and for the traditions and culture of the island population to be taken into consideration when issuing regulations.

Initially, the Fair Isle group was the only initiative pressing in this way to protect its marine resource. However, other groups have now emerged, including the Arran COAST project (www.arrancoast.co.uk) which also has the support of the Trust.  

With 1,600 members, numbering a fifth of the island’s population, COAST is substantially driven by the local community and is pressing to have Lamlash Bay declared as a Marine Protected Area. In the past five years, the organisation has surveyed the local seabed and made 63 Seasearch Observation records in the area of Lamlash Bay where previously no such survey had been conducted, and divers have discovered sizeable beds of rare and fragile maerl – pink coral-like seaweed – at the entrance to the bay. The divers take underwater photographs which are then used in presentations to schools and visitors.

In terms of more far-reaching direct results, COAST’s action has meant that Scottish Water have now moved the proposed site of a sewage outfall from Lamlash Bay. COAST continue to have talks with fishermen, SNH and the Scottish Executive, and have considerable support in the Scottish Parliament, not least from local Arran man, Jack McConnell.

Across Scotland, in recent years, with EU resolutions on Integrated Coastal Zone Management, a proposal for a Scottish Coastal and Marine National Park (CMNP), the launching of the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative with Shetland as a pilot study area, a proposed UK Marine Bill and calls for a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, new opportunities have emerged for further progress towards protecting the nation’s marine resource.

In January 2008 the Scottish Government announced that Lamlash Bay is set to become Scotland's first Community Marine Conservation Area. This will be the first time statutory protection has been given to a marine area as a result of proposals being developed at grassroots level. It follows work by the Lamlash Bay Working Group comprising representatives of the fishing industry and nature conservationists and chaired by an independent body, the Firth of Clyde Forum.First however there is a consultation period until 5 June 2008 during which individuals and groups can register their thoughts on the Marine Reserve.

The community-based proposal for a Marine Protected Reserve in Lamlash Bay receives the full support from the Fair Isle Marine Environment & Tourism Initiative. Here on Fair Isle we have identified that sustainable management of our marine area would have major positive impacts on the marine environment, tourism, local economy, education and research, with proven benefits also to the wider community and fishermen as shown by similar community-based Marine Protected Areas in New Zealand, Finland and many other parts of the world, and we are confident that the same would apply to the proposed Marine Protected Reserve in Lamlash Bay.

The frustration felt by COAST in its drive for a protected area is shared as keenly by the community on Fair Isle where we have long recognized the need and campaigned for similar measures in our own waters.

Despite little practical progress towards its aim so far, FIMETI still strives to bring sustainable resource management measures to Fair Isle waters. Currently this involves working with the North Atlantic Fisheries College in the preparation of a local Marine Spatial Plan as part of the Scottish government's Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI).