SAMS participates in public consultations and those generated by organisations such as the Royal Society and Royal Society of Edinburgh. We also provide expert advice to Government, Parliamentary Committees and organisations such as OSPAR and  ICES. Staff also contribute to policy development through membership of influential committees of international organisations such as the WMO and ICES.

Examples in chronological order include:

• Scottish Marine Bill consultation: full response available here
• Scottish Coastal Forum: SAMS is a member of SCF and contributed to the SCF Marine Bill response.
• MoD DCDC 'Arctic out to 2040' workshop.
• SAMS hosted the Arctic UK Stakeholders Conference and produced a Commisioned Report which was submitted to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Polar Regions Unit): "Current Status of UK Arctic Research"
• Scottish Executive consultation on Marine Parks 2007
• UK Marine Bill consultation and inquiry.
• SEA7 area reports on fish & fisheries (Gordon, 2006) and benthic communities (Davies et al., 2006) for the Department of Trade and Industry (see: www.offshore-sea.org.uk/ for full details and downloadable reports).
• Danish Meteorological Institute 2005-6 consultation regarding communications options for a new network of automatic weather station in Greenland (David Meldrum).
• Professor Graham Shimmield provided a response to the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Committee consultation 'Strategic Review of Inshore Fisheries', as well as to the SE consultation on 'A Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture.' He further contributed to the Royal Commission Study on the Environmental Impact of Marine Fisheries, and responded to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit on the UK Fisheries Project.
• Dr Anuschka Miller contributed to The Royal Society working group consultation document on best practice in communicating the results of new scientific research to the public.