Category:

The following video shows a walkover of the marine litter that has washed up on the shores of Arrochar in the first two weeks of 2014. The words ‘crying shame’ spring to mind, because this is such a graphic, in-your-face example of the damaged state of our seas.

Arrochar is nestled at the head of Loch Long, a slender sea loch that stretches 20 miles north from the Firth of Clyde towards the majestic slopes of the Lomond hills. Once the site of a thriving West coast fishery, the village is more dependent on tourism than the bounty from diminished fish stocks. But Arrochar’s few hundred metres of usually postcard-worthy shoreline have been transformed by a tide of seaweed tangled up with masses of rubbish. The ratio looks like about 2 parts seaweed to one part plastic. (more…)

Comments closed

Recently the BBC aired a documentary on the ‘”Top Ten Battlegrounds of Independence.” While it is a welcome attempt to develop the debate on our constitutional future, it is also a deep disappointment. The Scottish voter’s needs and future aspirations have been reduced to a set of soundbite issues (pensions, currency, broadcasting etc). And although they predictably identified some very important issues (including… err… the economy and various subsets of it) as areas most ripe for campaign skirmishes, the environment receives only a passing mention in the “energy battleground”, about which fuel bills are judged to be our main concern.

What a sad indictment on Scottish politics that public debate about our environment – and the way we (more…)

Comments closed

Over 10,000 people have responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation in support of plans to set up a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Scottish waters. The 16-week consultation – which ran throughout the summer – closed in mid-November and canvassed views on MPA sites around the Scottish coast as well as feedback about the plans in general. Campaigning by environmental charities in Scotland led to a groundswell of support for the MPAs, but also highlighted that the network needs to fill in the ‘ecological gaps’ by creating sites for seabirds, whales, dolphins and other vulnerable seabed species and habitats currently afforded inadequate protection from a growing range of pressures at sea. You can read coverage of the coalition campaign here. View a BBC Scotland slideshow of marine pictures here

Comments closed

Over 30 events have been held across Scotland since August about government plans to develop a network of MPAs. Peter Cunningham, biologist at the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust – who attended an event in Poolewe – says that local engagement with the proposal is essential…

Around 30 local people attended our local Marine Protected Area (MPA) drop-in event in September. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) staff were on hand to explain the North West Sea Lochs and Summer Isles MPA proposal and offer more information about the underpinning science. It provided a very useful forum to air and discuss emerging views on the proposed MPA. The proposed MPA encompasses (more…)

Comments closed

People have a once-in-a-generation chance to shape the management of Scotland’s seas, say the eight members of Scottish Environment LINK. The Save Scottish Seas campaigners have launched an action on this website to help people engage with a major public consultation on a proposed network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The network is vital to secure the environmental recovery of Scotland’s seas and is part of a new marine planning system which will determine the future health of the marine environment and the sustainability of development at sea.

Taking part in this online campaign is a chance to show your support for MPAs and the recovery of our seas. Read coverage of the campaign on the BBC website.

Comments closed

Could interlinked fish and crustacean populations affect the declining health of local seagrass beds? Peter Cunningham of the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust explores the possibility in light of fresh research from across the pond…

Recently I had a snorkel along the shore of Loch Ewe where we tried to re-establish some seagrass in an area where a few years ago a small area of seagrass had disappeared.

Last winter, on the other side of the peninsula by mouth of Loch Gairloch, we found lots of stranded rootlets and fragments of seagrass on the shore at Big Sand; so the idea was to try to see if we could get the cuttings to root along the shore of Loch Ewe. (more…)

Comments closed

It was an unlikely venue. In a plush, carpeted function suite of the Radisson Blu hotel in the centre of Scotland’s capital and amidst the countless shows of Edinburgh’s famous Festival, a very different event was being performed by the Scottish Government…

Monday 19th August saw the first of Marine Scotland’s (the Marine Directorate of Scotland’s civil service) national presentations to showcase its consultation ‘Planning Scotland’s Seas.’ It had the informal format of a drop-in session, where anyone could wander in – escape the Festival scrum – and talk directly with marine planners, scientists and policy-makers and then watch a short presentation followed by a Q&A. (more…)

Comments closed

Scottish Government proposals announced today have the potential to help reverse hundreds of years of environmental decline in our seas, say a coalition of environmental groups. Plans for a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were launched via public consultation today alongside the National Marine Plan, a new plan for sustainable development at sea. The MPAs have the potential to recover and manage the ecological health of Scotland’s seas that have suffered from centuries of pollution, overfishing and damage to the seabed. (more…)

Comments closed

Regenerating Scotland’s cold-water coral reefs?

Read why Heriot-Watt researchers need an injection of capital to pioneer some world-leading technology that could transform the way we do nature conservation at sea…

Could robots help to save the world’s fragile and increasingly damaged coral reefs? It’s an astonishing idea conceived and developed by researchers at Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University.

By developing complex, swarm-based algorithms, the researchers hope to build intelligent submersible robots that could recognise underwater coral species and help to rebuild sections of reef. The brainchild of some healthy cross-departmental pollination at the annual “Heriot-Watt Crucible,” the idea is ambitious and potentially transformative. (more…)

Comments closed

A parliamentary report highlighting a chronic “lack of clarity” with English marine protection plans sends a strong signal to the Scottish Government about its proposals for a marine protected area network to safeguard Scotland’s marine biodiversity.

The report by the cross-party UK Science and Technology Committee describes the “frustration” and “anxiety” for industry and other stakeholders caused during efforts to create Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in England. The consultation is being viewed by many Scottish stakeholders as a stark lesson about the potential pitfalls for Scotland’s Marine Protected Area project if not implemented robustly and (more…)

Comments closed