Marine Pollution 
On behalf of the Scottish Government, the Marine Directorate has specific responsibility for the protection of the marine environment and the living resources that it supports in waters adjacent to Scotland. This includes involvement in the response to marine pollution incidents caused by shipping or from offshore installations in the Scottish sector of UK controlled waters, particularly where there is likely to be an adverse effect on the marine environment.
Since the grounding of the Braer on Shetland in January 1993 the Scottish Government has been working closely with a number of partners to meet our obligations (as party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) to protect and preserve the marine environment. The UK National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations (NCP), which came into force on January 1 2000, is one of many measures taken to meet this obligation (The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is currently conducting a refresh of the NCP).
Under the NCP, the Scottish Government Marine Directorate has overall responsibility for the protection of the marine environment, the living resources that it supports and fisheries in waters adjacent to Scotland. This responsibility is managed through the provision of advice on fisheries, environmental and natural heritage matters form the Fisheries Research Services - Marine Laboratory (FRS-ML), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) respectively.
In the event that it is decided to treat an oil spill with approved chemical dispersants, the Scottish Government is responsible for issuing licenses under FEPA part II (1985) in shallow waters. This method is only adopted if considered necessary to assist the process of natural dispersal and degradation, and is normally used in combination with mechanical recovery operations.
The UK (Scotland) has also been involved in discussing a number of recommendations to protect and preserve the marine environment from the risk of pollution. These include:
The designation of Marine Environmental High Risk Area's (MEHRA's) and Particularly Sensitive Sea Area's (PSSA) which mariners will be encouraged to avoid, and
Reducing the threat of high risk vessels getting into difficulty through automatic position reporting and phasing out of single hulled tankers.
Further information on marine pollution can be found at: FRS-ML, MCA and UNCLOS.
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