News

Programming Inaction – Five Years of Scottish Government’s Delays

31 August 2020

Each year the Scottish Government publishes its Programme for Government, a plan for what it intends to do in the coming 12 months.

The plan for 2020-2021 will be published on the 1st September and it is anticipated that this programme will set out some more of the Government’s thinking on how to bounce back from the covid-19 crisis – especially since the Government’s plan for a post-covid Green Recovery was light on detail and poorly received (we set out some of our own ideas here).

Sadly, these publications have become a disappointment, with nearly all the commitments made on marine issues being ignored, delayed or forgotten about in the coming year. So, before we look at what Government say they will do for our seas in the coming year, here’s a look back what the Government has promised for our seas in previous years, and what they have actually done (or not). [Read more…]

A Blue Recovery

19 August 2020

Like most countries, Scotland is facing multiple crises: we are facing climate change and biodiversity emergency, in throes of constitutional upheaval, are still responding to a pandemic and are likely to enter recession and an unemployment crisis.

These are time for big ideas and we are now calling on Government to take measures that will both repair the health of our marine environment and play a serious role in supporting economic recovery.

In June this year, the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery (AGER) set out a requirement that the Government recover Scotland’s economy in a way that delivers best for communities, jobs and without undermining our natural resources. Scottish Government’s response has echoed this – stating the ambition to build a future that “conserves and grows our natural assets” and “invests in and uses Scotland’s natural resources more efficiently”.

Our marine area represents a huge national and natural resource, and yet we are mismanaging it… badly. Even before the covid-19 crisis, the Government’s management of our inshore seas perform poorly: [Read more…]

Fish Local

26 March 2020

The global spread of COVID-19 has triggered widespread economic chaos. Inshore fisheries appear to be at the front of it.

The order to shut restaurants and the closing of European borders have thrown Scottish fisheries into serious turmoil. Within days many small scale inshore boats were tied up in harbour. The spring has already been a brutal one with near persistent storms, and the collapse of export markets has added huge pressure. A few days later, many shellfish processors and vendors started closing up shop too.

Meanwhile, as has become an all too familiar sight on social media and in the news, communities began to panic buy food from mainstream supermarkets. Our precarious food system has suddenly come under massive strain and, whilst it seems like this is just a short term problem, it is momentarily struggling to keep up with demand.

The fact that many fishermen cannot find a market for their seafood whilst simultaneously communities cannot access adequate food supplies showcases an issue that has been known in the fishing industry for a long time – we export most of what we catch and we import most of what we eat. [Read more…]

Report highlights illegal discarding in scampi industry

28 November 2019

We have published a ‘Discard Dossier’ in collaboration with Our Fish providing evidence that illegal discarding continues in the Scottish prawn (scampi) fishery and is threatening the recovery of our already collapsed fish stocks.

Here’s the executive summary:

In 2013 the ‘discard ban’ or Landing Obligation was agreed to reduce and record the amount of fish killed as ‘unwanted catches’ in our fisheries, specifically to end seafood waste at-sea and reduce the amount of unintended fish mortality caused to populations of fish caught as bycatch.

On the West Coast of Scotland, these populations include cod, whiting and haddock, all of which are at depleted levels in this area. Cod stocks have essentially collapsed.

The discard ban was phased in between 2015 and 2019 to allow fisheries and businesses time to adapt. However, a 2018 House of Lords investigation found “no evidence that fishers have been complying with it”, and further that “little attempt appears to have been made to enforce the landing obligation’s requirements thus far”.

Due to the depletion of fish stocks and consolidation of quota, the west coast fisheries now [Read more…]

A year since Gairloch

21 October 2019

It has been almost a year since we reported illegal damage caused to the seabed in Gairloch – a small part of our inshore sea that has been given legal protection for over a century.

Unfortunately, the law only provides protection in principle, and there have been a number of reports of illegal damage to protected areas around Scotland in this year (such as north west Jura, Sound of Mull, Summer Isles). The Scottish Government response has sometimes been unclear; often the only information in the public domain is that which has been reported in the press.

Enforcement activity is the job for Scotland’s Fisheries Officers, but here we want to share and explain the evidence we have, set out our view of what we think the problem is, and allow you to consider the issue yourself. We want to highlight the damage being caused and what it means for your seas, Scotland’s seafood and the communities that rely on it. [Read more…]

Our seas will change, what should we do about it?

27 September 2019

This month the IPCC published its special report on the impact of climate change on our seas.

The report attempts to set out the scientific consensus on the likely impact of climate change on our oceans, life inside of them, and the potential for them to adapt to a warmer world. You can read a very quick summary of key findings here. They include highly confident predictions of declines in the abundance of fish in the North Atlantic, a very likely weakening of the system that runs the Gulf Stream and a shift in the geographic range of various species, impacted by both the effects of fishing and climate change.

We have already seen climate change impacting our seafood, with an increase in the amount of hake (a species similar to cod) found in our seas. Climate change has also been blamed for the decline in North Sea cod – although we maintain that setting quota beyond sustainable limits, consequent over-fishing, reports of ongoing discarding are major factors. [Read more…]

Transparency is a fundamental tool for deterring illegal fishing

15 August 2019

Earlier this week, the Herald ran a front page story ‘Justice in secret for skippers that flout laws at sea’.

Monday’s front page of The Herald.#tomorrowspaperstoday #scotpapers pic.twitter.com/5SvEClDjbN

— HeraldScotland (@heraldscotland) August 12, 2019

The news article focussed on concerns raised after the Scottish Government declined to disclose the identity of vessels given fines for suspected illegal trawling inside Loch Gairloch, an area of inshore seabed known to hold vital habitat for spring spawning herring.

This is an issue we have been following for some time. Reports of illegal fishing in protected areas of Scotland’s seas are sadly all-too-frequent and despite increasing awareness of the problem, it’s still happening. This is in part due to the under-resourcing of fisheries enforcement in Scotland, but also because the legislative regime itself does not effectively deal with – and deter – illegal fishing. Sustainable fishermen, and our environment, are now paying the price: illegal dredging or trawling can entail huge collateral damage to marine wildlife and also compromise the sea’s productivity for other fisheries. Back in 2018, we collaborated with local divers to investigate the seabed after reports of illegal trawling in Loch Gairloch. In July this year, the Scottish Government confirmed that two vessels were issued ‘Fixed Penalty Notices’, each for £2,000 for illegally fishing inside the Gairloch closed area. [Read more…]

A lesson from Loch Carron

27 May 2019

What happened in Loch Carron is a window into the bright future that could exist along our coastline and a lifeboat moment for sustainable fishing in Scotland. It shows what can be achieved with popular will, local support and political leadership – that the guardianship of our seabed for future generations is possible, and is a good thing for coastal communities.

On Friday 17th May, a diverse group including local fishermen, divers, marine scientists, school children, campaigners, and a local politician, gathered in Plockton to celebrate Loch Carron becoming a permanent Marine Protected Area. Some literally gathered in Loch Carron itself, snorkelling and diving to see first-hand what lies below the waves.

Inverness Sub-Aqua Club, Ullapool Sea Savers, Maree Todd MSP, fishing businesses, community groups and environmental campaigners gathered in Plockton

Back in April 2017 a scallop dredger had been witnessed towing its heavy and damaging dredges through the sea loch known by locals to be [Read more…]

Dredging in the dark

12 February 2019

The success of Scotland’s seafood sector relies upon a reputation of high-quality, sustainable and traceable fish, and yet the Scottish Government is continuing to sit on its hands in the wake of repeated instances of illegal scallop dredging. We document a recent incident of suspicious fishing activity in the Sound of Mull, and explain how inaction by the Scottish Government is undermining the recovery of our marine environment – and why vessel tracking could help solve the problem.

Ram-raiding MPAs

In recent weeks, community organisations, fishermen and environmental groups have spoken with one voice to highlight the systemic failure by Marine Scotland to effectively manage Scotland’s inshore fisheries and protect and enforce fishing rules in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). A series of incidents of both damaging and illegal scallop dredging prompted 42 organisations – including our own – to sign a joint letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calling for the Scottish Government to enforce fishing laws in MPAs and rethink the lack of management, which currently leaves 95% of Scotland’s inshore waters open to scallop dredging.

Our view is that without improved management, the productive potential of our seabed will continue to be eroded by poorly regulated dredging. This means coastal communities, businesses and our broader inshore fishing sector are being disadvantaged by a degraded marine environment. [Read more…]

Open Seas statement on illegal and damaging dredging in Gairloch

14 November 2018

Scallop dredging pulverises our seabed, and yet it is permitted through about 95% of our coastal seas. What we have seen in Gairloch are the actions of a few greedy fishermen, for whom 95% of it is not enough. These scallopers have decided to decimate one of the few small areas protected from this damaging form of fishing.

We need to get this fishery out of our sensitive and vulnerable coastal sea, unless in areas where the fishery can itself prove it is sustainable for it to be there. We also need to establish a proper means of tracking the boats so that illegal fishing like this is stamped out for good.

The blame in this instance lands firmly with Scottish Ministers. The current regulation of scallop dredging is pitifully inadequate. This Government is failing to protect our natural heritage by allowing one of the only places where herring are still spawning to be destroyed in this way. Unless they take action soon, they will be turning their back on not only our marine environment, but the future of our fisheries and the rural economy in places like Wester Ross. Real stewardship of our seabed would be to the long-term benefit of Scotland.

In just four years, scallop landings in Scotland have declined by roughly 30% (2013-2017). There is an underlying problem that needs to be addressed urgently.

For more information and background to this issue, read ‘Probe into alleged scallop dredging in protected area‘.

We will continue to update our own news page with more detail.

Seabed Reform

16 August 2018

The wrong activity, in the wrong place, can cause serious damage to the health of our seas. In Loch Carron, we saw this starkly when the world’s largest flame shell reef was damaged by a scallop dredger. (If you’re not familiar with what happened in Loch Carron, we suggest you read this before continuing here).

The Scottish Government set up a “National Marine Plan” in 2015 to manage these impacts and guide the way the sea is used by industries. Unfortunately, the events in Loch Carron made clear that Ministers are failing to comply with it, specifically by failing to ensure that use of the marine environment does not impact on the national status of “Priority Marine Features”.

As a result, the Government are now undertaking a “review” to understand what impacts of bottom-towed fishing are taking place and to assess the cost of meeting their own legal requirements… It looks like this is going to result in very little actual action and so we’re calling for a more effective and evidence-based approach to protect our underwater heritage, the future of our fisheries and the health of our seas – read on to find out more.

A brief history

Scotland’s seas are a central part of our culture. Since the first people arrived to settle here after the last ice age, our seas have provided the foundations of society – literally so in some places; archaeologists have found homes made from oyster shell middens, and more recently towns such as Plockton were planned and built to harvest fish. The habitats carpeting the seabed, are the foundation of our seas. They give life to our fish, they filter our water, they store carbon and underpin the functioning of the interconnected web of life in the sea. Unfortunately they are in a historically bad condition. [Read more…]

UK Government Fisheries White Paper

6 July 2018

The UK Government released a White Paper outlining their intention for replacing the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) on Wednesday. On Thursday Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Fisheries Fergus Ewing condemned the document as a Westminster “power grab” – power over fisheries has long been devolved to Holyrood (and the Senedd and Stormont). Here’s a quick summary of our view on what the White Paper means for sustainable Scottish seafood.

Context

As has been established elsewhere in the Brexit proceedings, despite leaving the EU in March 2019, the UK will in effect follow EU fishing rules in 2019 and 2020, only by 2021 will we have properly Brexited from a fisheries [Read more…]