Scottish Islands Explorer 41: Jan / Feb 2017

New Marine Protected Area in Wester Ross
The Glacial Past
e WRMPA was designed specifically for the conservation
and recovery of certain ‘Protected Features’ - species providing
valuable habitats. Maerl (a slow-growing coralline red algae
whose delicate skeleton locks up carbon and provides a nursery
bed for many species including scallops); burrowed mud
(habitat for economically valuable langoustine); kelp forests;
flame shell beds and Northern feather star aggregations;
together with ‘geodiversity’ features from the glacial past.
Once a line has been drawn and agreed on a map, you might
expect the seas within a Marine Protected Area to be ‘Protected’
but - fascinatingly and infuriatingly - the original ‘Management
Approach’ for the WRMPA prohibited dredgers and trawlers
only from tiny patches surrounding these ‘Protected Features’.
It is ‘Business as Usual’ permitted all around, an approach which
seemed absurd. How could such restrictions be enforced or
policed? ere are no fences on the sea.
Furthermore, with such miniscule specifications, how could
the wider seas recover? And crucially, how could we be sure
that there are no more of these ‘Protected Features’ elsewhere
in the area? ere has never been a comprehensive survey of
the seabed. e plans were based on information cobbled
together from various surveys conducted since the 1980s. To
assume the rest of the area is safe to trawl and dredge is to
defy the ‘Precautionary Principle’ - one of the key elements
for policy decisions concerning environmental protection
and management.
Signed by Hundreds
Fortunately for the sea, there are people with the dedication
and know-how to challenge the traditionally powerful
lobbies. Environmental NGOs continued to work together
(the Scottish Environment LINK’s Marine taskforce), and
launched a national campaign to ensure proper Protection -
‘#DontTakeeP’. A local group was formed called ‘Sea
Change’ and submitted a petition ‘For the Protection of the
Sea Bed’, signed by hundreds of local people in the communities
around the proposed MPA.
is was a powerful message to take to MSPs and the then
the chair of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and
Environment Committee, Rob Gibson, agreed with the logic
of our argument. Eventually, aer a second round of consultation
and devoted lobbying, the then environment secretary
Richard Lochhead declared that the whole area should be free
from dredgers, with trawlers restricted to certain less-sensitive
areas. Creel fishing for prawns and hand-diving for scallops
(employing more fishermen in this area) continue as before.
Jubilation! Here was a triumph of sound science, common
sense and long-term vision. However, now the MPA needs
to be managed. Given that the State instigated the process,
one might imagine that the State has a practical, affordable
plan to ensure MPAs work. But in this era of financial
constraint, there is no budget for such luxuries as a baseline
survey, or management of the remaining fishing effort.
22 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017