A quality management review of Scotland's sectoral marine plan for tidal energy

As coastal communities continue to increase in size and population, associated marine economies will have to expand in unison. This relationship gives rise to an increase in user – user and user – environment conflicts. Such conflicts demand the implementation of marine spatial planning (MSP) in order to effectively manage users and uses within the marine environment. Furthermore, climate change increasingly threatens the integrity of marine ecosystems, thereby affecting the economies of coastal communities. Political support for the adoption of offshore renewable energy has increased in order to assist a transition away from carbon-based economies. These drivers have triggered Scotland to construct and implement the world's first sectoral marine plan for tidal energy (SMPTE). As this SMPTE is the first of its kind, it is important to include a quality assurance element in the plan framework. The authors have undertaken a quality management review of Scotland's SMPTE against guidelines set out in the International Council for Exploration of the Sea's Marine Spatial Planning Quality Management System (ICES MSP QMS). Conformity of the SMPTE to criteria set out in the ICES MSP QMS are ranked, gaps in quality management are analyzed, and recommendations are made for further improvement.