{"id":213072,"date":"2025-10-20T12:06:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/213072\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T12:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:06:08","slug":"ministers-urged-to-deliver-proper-protection-for-precious-marine-ecosystems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/213072\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministers urged to deliver \u2018proper protection\u2019 for \u2018precious\u2019 marine ecosystems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holyrood ministers are being urged to deliver \u201cproper protection\u201d for Scotland\u2019s marine protected areas (MPAs) \u2013 with campaigners insisting \u201cdestructive\u201d fishing practices have no place in such zones.<\/p>\n

Marine conservation groups spoke out after the Scottish Government implemented new fisheries management measures in 20 offshore MPAs in a bid to protect sensitive habitats and species.<\/p>\n

A consultation on introducing similar measures at inshore MPAs \u2013 described as being the jewel in the crown of Scotland\u2019s marine ecosystem \u2013 is now due to get under way in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Campaigners are now urging ministers to use this to prevent trawling and dredging from these \u201cprecious ecosystems\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bally Philp, national co-ordinator for the Scottish Creel Fishermen\u2019s Federation, said: \u201cYou cannot count any seabed as protected if it still can be dredged and trawled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese fishing methods have their place, and can continue in areas where there are no sensitive species or a lower-impact alternative.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the ongoing destruction of the precious ecosystems and fish nursery habitats within our inshore and marine protected areas has to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cScottish ministers have an obligation to bring our seas up to good environmental status, and right now we all know this is not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Charles Millar, executive director of the Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (Sift), said: \u201cThese marine protected areas were designated many years ago, and the fact that they\u2019re still being dredged and trawled has undermined both our creelers and our marine ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed MPAs are \u201cvital\u201d to helping fish stock recover, as he insisted: \u201cThe right place for dredging and bottom trawling is outside marine protected areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giverny Fitzgerald, co-ordinator of the Our Seas coalition, meanwhile demanded there must be \u201cproper protection provided for all marine protected areas\u201d<\/p>\n

She stated: \u201cAbove all, the Scottish Government need to recognise that nature restoration is actually the foundation of strong coastal economies, both in terms of sustainable fishing and other economic activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe Richards, Scotland project manager for Blue Marine Foundation, said that Sir David Attenborough\u2019s Ocean film had shown \u201cdredging and trawling have no place in marine protected areas\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cScotland\u2019s inshore waters have suffered from destructive bottom trawling for far too long.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has damaged not only vital habitats and species but also the health of our inshore fisheries and the livelihoods that depend on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Scottish Government must act now to restrict bottom-towed gear from our inshore MPAs and allow our seas to recover and thrive once again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Aine Purcell-Milton, executive director of the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (Coast), said the waters there were \u201cone of only a few Scottish MPAs\u201d where bottom trawling and dredging has been limited.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe are seeing first-hand the benefits that meaningful protection of our seas can bring to both nature and to coastal communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this must extend beyond South Arran. When we properly protect our marine environment it can recover \u2013 we just need to give it a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: \u201cPutting in place the remaining fisheries management measures for inshore marine protected areas and the 11 priority marine features most at risk from bottom trawling will help to support healthy marine ecosystems and the industries that rely on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aim to launch the public consultation on the measures for these sites by the end of November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue, as we have done from the very start of this process, to reach out and engage with all stakeholders and to support our coastal communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

Follow STV News <\/a>Follow STV News on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holyrood ministers are being urged to deliver \u201cproper protection\u201d for Scotland\u2019s marine protected areas (MPAs) \u2013 with campaigners…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-213072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}