Dredging in crucial habitat sparks row over UK marine protected areas

2 years ago 145

Footage showing protected Scottish waters raked cleanable by scallop dredgers shows that marine protected areas are "paper parks", accidental campaigners

Environment 5 October 2022

By Madeleine Cuff

Scar marks crossed the seabed bespeak scallop dredging continues legally wrong the protected area

A caller enactment has breached retired implicit the effectiveness of the UK’s marine extortion schemes aft grounds emerged of a seabed successful protected Scottish waters raked cleanable by scallop dredgers.

Earlier this summer, run groups Open Seas and Greenpeace sent underwater drones to movie the seabed wrong the Small Isles Marine Protected Area (MPA), protected waters astir the isle of Rum connected Scotland’s westbound coast.

The footage suggests an country of maerl – a fragile, slow-growing signifier of coral – wrong the protected portion has been destroyed by dredging activity, with the seabed reduced to a bid of bare, furrowed tracks.

The groups accidental the grounds is impervious that the Small Isles MPA is simply a “paper park” that isn’t protected by bans connected destructive sportfishing methods.

It is presently ineligible for scallop dredgers and bottommost trawlers to food successful this MPA and dozens of others astir the UK coastline, contempt protests by biology campaigners.

“The bulk of MPAs successful the UK inactive person nary signifier of fisheries absorption successful spot whatsoever,” says Phil Taylor, caput of argumentation and operations astatine Open Seas. “So they are insubstantial parks. And this is the worst illustration of a insubstantial parkland that we person travel across.”

The Small Isles MPA, designated by the Scottish authorities successful 2014, is regarded arsenic 1 of the astir important marine habitats successful the UK. It is location to the uncommon instrumentality mussel (Atrina fragilis) alongside fragile marine habitats specified arsenic burrowed mud and maerl beds.

Two years ago, the country of seabed surveyed by Open Seas and Greenpeace featured a “pretty overmuch intact” carpet of maerl, says Taylor. Now the tract looks similar a “ploughed field”, helium says.

Studies person repeatedly shown that scallop dredging causes catastrophic harm to maerl beds.

Maerl is the European equivalent of a coral reef, acting arsenic nursery environments for marine life, says Jason Hall-Spencer astatine the University of Plymouth, UK.

But they lone turn 1 millimetre a twelvemonth and truthful conflict to retrieve from dredging activities. “These are thousands of years old, these situation types,” helium says. “If you harm a maerl bed, it won’t turn back.”

The Scottish authorities is present nether renewed unit to prohibition scallop dredging wrong its MPAs, with Open Seas calling for an contiguous ban.

More than a 3rd of UK coastal waters are covered by MPAs, but bottommost trawling is banned successful conscionable four.

In effect to the findings, a spokesperson for the Scottish authorities said fisheries absorption measures volition beryllium introduced to each its MPAs by 2024, including the Small Isles MPA.

“The Scottish Government is determined to support our precious marine situation and execute and support bully biology presumption for each of Scotland’s seas,” they said successful a statement. “We instrumentality our work to support the marine situation seriously.”

Campaigners accidental imposing tougher sportfishing rules connected protected habitats volition drastically amended the UK’s marine biodiversity. In Lyme Bay successful Dorset, for example, trawling and dredging were banned successful 2008 and the country has seen a melodramatic revival successful marine biodiversity.