The following came in on 9 Dec 2010 from COAST - Community of Arran Seabed Trust
It is part of C.O.A.S.T. Newsletter #9 - Scallops and damage limitation
This [was] sent to Scotland's coastal communities, policy-makers and decision-makers. Please leave a comment at the end of this post to get in touch or to recommend other readers.
Damage limitation
The recent 'scallop war' between the Manx and Scottish governments is fundamentally a battle of credibility. And a quick look at recent political events demonstrates there is one clear loser.
A genuine window of hope opened when the old Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department was dismantled in 2007. A new approach to managing Scotland’s sea-based resources was firmly on the cards, as restructuring by the SNP paved the way for Marine Scotland - a dedicated branch of the Environment Directorate.
There was already momentum behind that 'wind of change'. Just a few months before, in 2006, C.O.A.S.T.'s long-standing proposals for a marine protected area were being discussed alongside plans for Clyde-wide scallop management as proposed by the Clyde Fishermans’ Association in the forum of the Environment and Rural Affairs committee. It seemed that things were moving in the right direction and fishermen’s representatives were on the way to taking some hard decisions that would protect the industry’s future and the health of the Clyde.
Indeed the Clyde Fisherman’s Association seemed proud of the idea of a marine protected area and actively supported reduced scallop effort. But scallop fisheries management was never going to be simple and, within four years, that momentum had regrettably stalled.
It is now 2010. Next month will be the second anniversary of the Clyde IFG. Wider area control is not even on the IFG table. Gear restriction is being 'considered,' but nothing is happening. Something as simple as increasing the minimum landing size of Scallops in the Clyde has been delayed by protracted discussions, with progress dependent on the outcome of an Economic Impact Assessment commissioned by the Scallop Working Group. Any measures to actually change fishing effort and practices to conserve one of the few remaining stocks in the Clyde are still at the drawing-board stage, held up in meetings where words fly without action.
So when Scottish scallop boats complained last month that they were being 'discriminated against' by virtue of a conservation-minded by-law that excluded large dredging vessels from Isle of Man inshore waters, the Scottish government should surely have bravely respected their Manx counterpart's painful, but progressive stance. After all, scallop management was something Scottish fishermen had wanted to achieve for their own waters for years.
Instead, the Scottish response was one of bullying indignation. The fishing restriction was portrayed as crude protectionism based on piecemeal science, the damaging impact of dredging on the seabed left unmentioned.
It is not just enough to point out what the Scottish Government would have said if the shoe had been on the other foot. To attack another jurisdiction's enviably forward-thinking conservation measure is both tragic and a public-relations disaster. The 'scallop war' indicates the Isle of Man is 20 years ahead in the sustainable management of its marine resource. And meanwhile, the reputation of Scottish political and industry representatives took an inter-agency, indeed international, nose-dive that will take a great deal of work to restore. Clyde scallop management is about damage limitation in more ways than one.
Both our immediate and European neighbours are often told how the Scottish fishing fleet leads the way in conservation measures, but the kneejerk attack on the Isle of Man puts this in context. It exposes a status quo where little has changed since the days of SEERAD, as sustainability measures are still ignored in favour of the short-term extraction of a resource.
It is an unsustainable approach and until there is more urgent action, C.O.A.S.T. will explore all legal channels to ensure there is a Clyde fishing industry for future generations.
C.O.A.S.T. wishes its members and newsletter readers a very merry Christmas and a sustainable (marine) New Year.
*****
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