Journalists can contact Open Seas for comment and analysis on breaking news in Scotland and the UK. We provide interviews, case studies and information on sustainable seafood issues.
Controversial international fisheries so often dominate the headlines, but for too long the serious social and environmental impacts of seafood caught much closer to home have been off the domestic news menu.
That is now changing…
In collaboration with community groups, fishermen and conservation charities, we are helping to raise awareness of long-standing sustainability concerns in our own waters. Finding solutions to these problems will help recover our marine environment and the communities – often rural and coastal towns and villages – that depend on them. We want to help catalyse a return to healthy, sustainable and diverse fisheries.
Below are just some of the news stories we have contributed to which have hit the headlines in the past few years…
2022
Cod protection move sparks fishermen’s anger (BBC Scotland, 13th January)
2021
Anger at justice ‘fails’ over the protection of Scotland’s waters from ‘rogue’ fishermen (The Herald, 12th December)
Protecting Scotland’s blue carbon habitats (STV News, 30th September)
‘Scotland’s fishing industry must join the fight against climate change, not resist it’ (The Scotsman, 1st September)
NGO ‘out of patience’ with Scottish scallop and Nephrops FIP (Undercurrent News, 14th July)
Special report on illegal scallop dredging in the UK (BBC Countryfile, 4th July)
Captain hypocrisy, he advises SNP on combating illegal scallop dredging, but then his firm is fined for, er, illegal scallop dredging (Mail on Sunday, 1st August)
Protecting Scotland’s seabed habitats and reviving inshore fisheries goes hand in hand (The Scotsman, 25th May)
SWFPA refuses to clarify member’s role after dredging fine (The Ferret, 17th May)
Call for Scotland to become world’s first rewilding nation (The Scotsman, 17th February)
Marine Scotland accused of destroying thousands of Scottish fishing jobs (The Herald, 10th January)
The war over scallops and the future of sustainable fishing in Scotland (The Herald, 3rd January)
2020
Scots Committee finds marine planning progress lacking (Undercurrent News, 18th December)
Fishermen mount court challenge against Scottish Government (STV News, 17th December)
Six boats investigated for illegal scallop dredging since March (The Ferret, 16th December)
Leaked report showed Scotland missed target for marine wildlife protection (4th November)
Scotland is failing to protect marine wildlife, says leaked government report (The National, 1st November)
New online hub brings locally caught fish direct to dinner tables in Scotland (Scotsman, 1st October)
Scotland fails to protect marine wildlife from trawling, say government scientists (The Ferret, 7th July)
Bid for marine wildlife crimes to be treated like those on land (The National, 15th June)
Scottish fishermen adapt to catch local markets (BBC online, Reporting Scotland, 17th April)
Herring put at risk by North Sea dredging (The Times, 14th February)
EU fishing rules – did the UK throw away a million tonnes of fish? (BBC online, 11th February)
Conservationists call for three mile coastal fishing limit in Scotland (Guardian, 6th January)
2019
Thousands of tonnes of dead fish illegally thrown into UK seas each year, investigation finds (Independent, 25th October)
Probe launched into suspected illegal scallop dredging (Herald, 23rd July)
North Sea Cod stocks fall to a critical level, says ICES report (BBC Online, 28th June)
Loch Carron reef given permanent protection after dredger damage (BBC Reporting Scotland, 29th March)
Hopes for Scottish herring recovery as huge spawning shoals spotted (Herald, 28th March)
Feature on illegal scallop dredging and impacts (BBC Countryfile, 10th March)
Scottish Government under pressure to impose real-time tracking on all inshore fishing vessels (Undercurrent News, 27th February)
Suspicious scallop dredging reported in the Sound of Mull (The Ferret, 26th February)
Calls for urgent protection of coastal waters (Press and Journal, 6th January)
Probe fisheries watchdog Marine Scotland, 40 groups demand (The National, 5th January)
2018
Ministers urged to stop illegal scallop dredging ruining the seabed (The Times, 7th December)
Film shows effect of illegal scallop dredging, say divers (BBC, 6th December)
Published: Film of seabed ‘pulverised’ by scallop dredging (The Ferret, 4th December)
Millionaire’s hoarding UK fishing rights (The Ecologist, 11th October)
The scallop wars are raging, but should you be eating shellfish at all? (The Guardian, 3rd September)
Concerns raised over plans to harvest kelp on west coast (STV, 23rd August)
Sealice ‘breakthrough’ for salmon farmers (BBC Scotland, 9th August)
Thousands of offences by Scottish fishing industry escape fines (The Ferret, 2nd August)
Shetland scallop fishery retains eco-label despite dredging protests (The Guardian, 20th June)
Row over ‘irresponsible’ trial of electrofishing for clams (Scotsman, 24th March)
Divers uncover Firth of Lorn ‘illegal scallop dredging’ (BBC Scotland, 6th February)
2017
Damaged Scottish reef biggest of its kind (BBC Scotland, 27th December)
Campaign group calls for isles scallops to lose ecological certificate over seabed fears (Shetland News, 18th December)
Waitrose urged to stop selling Shetland scallops over dredging concerns (The Guardian, 17th December)
Trawl, creel sectors clash over access to Scottish scampi (Undercurrent News, 13th November)
The battle over Scotland’s inshore fishing industry (Holyrood Magazine, 7th July)
Scottish salmon farming risk to wild wrasse (BBC Scotland, 20th June)
Scottish Government must address the needs of inshore fisheries sector (The Herald, 5th May)
New scallop dredging regulations “woefully inadequate,” say campaigners (Holyrood Magazine, 2nd May)
Rare Loch Carron flame shell reef ‘devastated’ by scallop dredger (BBC, 24th April)
