by Christine Lee Slew
Scotland harbors some of the most beautiful and diverse marine life in the world. It is home to bottlenose dolphins, porpoises, minke whales, otters and many more. For years, trawling – the practice of dragging weighted nets along the seabed- has caused enormous damage to the marine ecosystems. This type of fishing gathers a large amount of non-target species in the process and disturbs seafloor sediments, which leads to the release of greenhouse gases.
Despite the devastating impacts on the environment, bottom trawling remains a widespread practice: a report by Seas at Risk and the Marine Conservation Society revealed that between 2015 and 2023, trawling took place in 90% of offshore European marine protected areas (MPAs), namely in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, in addition to Scotland.
A recently launched (August 2024) public consultation proposed by the Scottish government sets out to ban trawling and dredging partially or fully at 15 vulnerable offshore MPAs, while imposing a full ban at five other sites. This plan was welcomed with enthusiasm by marine protection advocates, even though it was deemed long overdue. If implemented, it would mean great news for the sea life (and for us all) and also raises hope for better protection of inshore MPAs.