UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009

An overview of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010

The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 is a UK Parliament Act that provides the overarching framework for marine management in UK waters. It complements the Scottish Act i.e., Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 by covering reserved matters and the offshore zone (from 12 to 200 nm) around Scotland. The Act was enacted with an aim to have more coordinated, sustainable regime to the seas around the UK, which were previously managed by a patchwork of over 80 laws.

Part 3: Chapter 1 - Marine Policy Statement

The 2009 Act led to the adoption of a UK-wide Marine Policy Statement, agreed by all four UK administrations which are referred to as Policy Authorities under the Act. These four administrations are a) The Secretary of State; b) The Scottish Ministers; c) the Welsh Ministers and d) the Department of Environment in the Northern Ireland. (s. 44)

Part 3: Chapter 2 - Marine Planning Regions

The act divided the whole UK into eight marine areas two each for devolved administrations such as: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scotland is divided into - the Scottish inshore region and the Scottish offshore region. (s. 49)

Part 3: Chapter 2 - Marine Plan Authorities

The act designates under s 50 different marine plan authorities for Scottish inshore and offshore region. However in this case, it granted Scottish Ministers the authority (via agreement with UK ministers) to create marine plans for the Scottish offshore region (12-200 nm). Effectively this means Scotland's National Marine Plan already covers both inshore and offshore waters, using powers from the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 for inshore region and from the UK MCAA 2009 for offshore region. 

Part 3: Chapter 2 - Marine Plan Authorities

The act streamlined marine licensing and enforcement, it overhauled the marine licensing system in UK waters to make it more efficient and science-based. In practical terms, many offshore activities east of Scotland (like an oil pipeline or a telecom cable in the North Sea) fall under this Act’s licensing. Since oil and gas exploration is a reserved matter, those licenses are handled under the UK Act (by the Oil & Gas Authority/Offshore Petroleum Regulator) rather than the Scottish Act. The Act’s enforcement provisions mean that a Scottish enforcement officer (or UK marine enforcement officer) can board vessels and inspect operations in the offshore zone to ensure compliance, important for preventing illegal dumping or unlicensed exploitative activities that could impact the NE Scottish coastline (e.g. oil spills or debris can drift ashore).

Part 5: Nature conservation - Marine Conservation Zones

The MCAA 2009 established a mechanism to designate Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) – protected areas in English, Welsh, and Northern Irish waters (and theoretically the offshore Scottish zone) to conserve marine habitats and species. In Scotland, instead of using the MCZ terminology, the government opted to use the devolved MPA powers for both inshore and offshore sites (with UK ministers’ agreement for offshore). Functionally, however, the intent is the same: to create a network of protected areas. The UK Act’s MCZ framework is complementary to Scotland’s MPAs, ensuring that if a conservation need lies beyond 12 nm (for example, deep-sea reefs or offshore seabird foraging areas in the North Sea), there is a legal tool to protect it even if it’s outside Scottish inshore waters. The Act also required UK ministers to report on establishing an “ecologically coherent network” of MPAs/MCZs.

Part 9: Coastal Access

A well-publicized part of the Act is the duty to create a continuous, signed coastal walking path around the coast of England (the “England Coast Path”) While this does not apply in Scotland (where public access rights to land, including the coast, are already established through Scotland’s own Land Reform Act 2003), it reflects the Act’s broader aim of improving public enjoyment of the coastal zone. In the context of NE Scotland, this highlights a difference: Scotland did not need a coastal path law in 2009 due to its existing right-to-roam policy. 
However, EGCP has worked on projects like Coastal Trail development and improving coastal access (per its project listings), which dovetail with the spirit of coastal access in the Act.