Loch Carron

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…]

Loch Carron No More

26 April 2017

What happened in Loch Carron exemplifies a fundamental problem with the way we manage our inshore fisheries. How can we move forward?

What Happened?

This month a scallop dredger working along the west coast of Scotland, to the east of Skye and intermittently transmitting from its Automatic Information Service (AIS) transponder, entered Loch Carron. The vessel was observed in the sea loch – by several witnesses – towing around the area known to hold fragile and productive flame shell beds (we have spoken to several of these people directly). The flame shell reefs were well-known to many, and local fishermen attest that they hadn’t been dredged for at least 10 years, perhaps 15 or 20.

A squad of dedicated divers arrived at the site just a few days later and documented significant and extensive damage to [Read more…]

Are Scotland’s fish stocks in good condition?

14 September 2021 By Nick Underdown

The Scottish trawl fishing lobby has recently declared that there are “more fish in the sea than ever“. We consider the facts behind the headlines. “Another component of the threadbare dossier produced by the greens to attack the industry is “over-fishing. This myth really needs to be put to bed, once and for all.” Elspeth … [Read more]

SNP-Greens Deal fails to deliver sustainability in Scotland’s seas

23 August 2021 By Nick Underdown

The new SNP-Green deal is breaking new ground for Scottish politics. It has been cautiously welcomed from some environmental quarters, but does it promise anything new for the sustainability of our seas, and can it deliver? In the first deal of its kind in Scottish and UK politics, the SNP and the Scottish Green Party … [Read more]

Secretive government scallop dredge group documents reveal inaction

11 August 2021 By Nick Underdown

Redacted documents disclosed through a Freedom of Information request reveal just 14 REM installations on Scottish dredge fleet since 2018 despite £2m of public money and a secretive Government-run scallop industry group The Scottish Government has been promising to fit Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM)* systems to the Scottish scallop dredge fleet since 2014. This has … [Read more]